Review
“Given the exceptional depth and richness of the archaeological record in this region, it’s not surprising that conceptual artists with connections to the Middle East have made the tools, language, and methods of archaeology a vital part of their practice for decades. Consider Michael Rakowitz’s heartbreaking lamassu on the Fourth Plinth in London, on view through March 2020, a key part of The invisible enemy should not exist, 2007–, the Iraqi American artist’s powerful long-term project on the looting of ancient cultural heritage since the US-led invasion of Iraq. Or think of the work of the Paris- and Beirut-based artist Ali Cherri, notably the video Somniculus, 2017, and installation Fragments, 2016, which explore the market for archaeological relics—not only the most valuable items stolen or spectacularly demolished by isis and other militant groups but also the relatively modest objects that turn up all the time in lower-tier auction houses. Artists such as Kader Attia and Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme (the latter two work together as a pair) have also made highly relevant and illuminating works in this vein. In terms of using the presentation of archaeological objects as an occasion for a dialogue with contemporary art and a critique of institutional practice, Fareed Armaly, whose multifaceted 2007 project Shar(e)d Domains staged a riveting intervention into a display of archaeological effects from Gaza, may be an important (and all too often unacknowledged) forerunner here.”
(Excerpt)