Michael Rakowitz

Part of an Impossible Task presents work by Michael Rakowitz that examines the role of cultural artifacts on how individuals and societies define power. What have monuments meant to people in the past and what do they mean today? How can artists and viewers dismantle the heroic narratives associated with many historic monuments to inspire more nuanced readings of the past?

This exhibition interrogates both history and its retelling through the artist’s two bodies of work: Rakowitz’s “reappearances” of panels from the Northwest Palace of Nimrud (Kalhu) after their destruction by ISIS in 2015, which are part of his series The invisible enemy should not exist, and works from his 2023 exhibition The Monument, The Monster, and The Maquette. Rakowitz’s panels from Room H will be displayed near the Assyrian reliefs that Amherst College managed to acquire from the same palace in the mid-nineteenth century. The Mead’s panels, and gaps marked by labels with provenance information and quotes, are evidence of a longer history of looting and damage to the palace, built by Ashurnasirpal II in the 9th Century BCE. Collectively, and through the careful research and sense of humor that characterizes Rakowitz’s practice, the works expose the complexities inherent in discourses about monuments, and the destruction and displacement of artifacts. Part of an Impossible Task provokes us to think critically about museums, their collections, and their evolving role in society.