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ninhursaga.com, Fredsgatan 2, Stockholm (2026)

11/01/2024

CLOSING THIS WEEK –
The last few days to catch “BeLonging: Michael Rakowitz and the Mesopotamian Collection” and see this little piece at Medelhavsmuseet!

The exhibition closes on Sunday, and the Mesopotamian artefacts now on display will be packed away – so if you’re interested to see cuneiform texts, different types of seals, reliefs and other Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Beth Nahreinian objects, now is the time.

Above image shows a little relief in fired clay. There is not much information on it in the museum database and it is unpublished. However, I believe it is likely Old Babylonian, as the vast majority of such plaques are dated to this time period (c. 1894–1595 BCE). We don’t know much about what the plaques were for – if they had a religious or spiritual function, if they were decorative artworks for the homes, or mementos of specific events or places – its all guesswork. We do know however that they were mass produced in moulds and depict ‘normal’ life in a stylised way. They commonly depict animals or people reading, drinking, playing music, copulating etc.

We do assume that every image produced in the ancient world had a purpose – want to take a guess on these?

Also pictured:
A moulded Old Babylonian plaque in the British Museum Collection, BM 127478
An Old Babylonian plaque mould, BM 22958

08/01/2024

CLOSING THIS WEEK –
My exhibition at Medelhavsmuseet, “BeLonging: Michael Rakowitz and the Mesopotamian Collection”, closes this Sunday! I am truly so grateful to all of you who has taken the time to go see it.

While a relatively small exhibition in scale, working on it has been monumental to me. Having had the incredible honour to work with artist Michael Rakowitz before even finishing my MA in Curating, and being entrusted to curate and produce an exhibition in one of Sweden’s major museums as a student has been a privilege I don’t take lightly to. I was so terrifyingly nervous at times when the full impact of what I was doing would hit me. Or when something wasn’t going as I wanted, I was so scared of letting everyone down. I am also very proud of the work I’ve done, and – while not perfect — especially of the topics and questions that have been brought into the museum galleries through this exhibition.

Today, I cannot believe the exhibition is almost closing. This fall has been extraordinarily strange professionally for me. I had to go on parental leave basically since the exhibition opened, and I haven’t been there as often as I had hoped. I will try to be there several days this week, starting tomorrow. If you’re around, peek in for a look around, a coffee, and a chat!

Photos: Karl Zetterström, Statens Museer för Världskultur.

29/12/2023

“I, Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babylon, provider for Esagil and Ezida, son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, rebuilt Ebabbar, the temple of the god Shamash in Sippar, for the god Shamash, my lord, who prolongs my days. The god Shamash, the great lord, look with pleasure upon my pious works, grant me a life of many days, the satisfaction of growing very old, a firm throne and an enduring reign.

Accept my prayer favourably, at your august command which is not to be countermanded, may my work, my ritual act, endure forever. May my descendants flourish as kings (and) remain in the country. Wherever I pray to you - my lord, the god Shamash - may you, Shamash, be the one who lays the way for slaying my enemies. May your fierce weapons, which cannot be confronted, accompany me to defeat my enemies. As the bricks of (the temple) Ebabbar are established forever, so may my years be long-lasting for everlasting days.”

Neo-Babylonian clay cylinder from the temple of the sun god Shamash at Sippar.
NM Ant 2088. Currently on display in “BeLonging: Michael Rakowitz and the Mesopotamian Collection” at Medelhavsmuseet, Fredsgatan 2, Stockholm.

05/12/2023

Another month has passed since my last post. The day I was examined for the exhibition, I went to pick up my kids are realised my son had a fever. Since then I have been taking care of the twins full time - firstly to avoid further infections in anticipation of a surgery, then to avoid infection during recovery, and finally to take care of a sick child who was allowed to go to kindergarten in the final week of the other’s recovery. Last Thursday was my first kid-free day since October 7th!

I was utterly exhausted after the examination and opening, and although I had hoped to keep working and applying for jobs, and finishing that one paper I have left from my first year, and completing that catalogue I was working on before the kids were born – after a full day with the kids, when they were finally in bed and sleeping (often as late as 9 pm), I didn’t have energy for anything else. But finally, I’m back! I’m starting to work on an exhibition catalogue, so if you have any experience with that - please share your best tips! And if you’ve seen the exhibition, and would like to comment or write something, let me know. xx ––N.

15/11/2023

Assyrologist & curator Ninhursag Tadaros on her exhibition BeLonging at the Mediterran Museum in Stockholm

31/10/2023

Thank you to everyone who came to the opening weekend and participated in the conversations with the artist, the panel and artist-talk on the Saturday! It was a wonderful weekend, and such a joy seeing so many people there!

It has been such a privilege to work on this project with Michael Rakowitz and the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities. The museum has been so supportive, my supervisors incredible, and my technical producer amazing. The most joyous part of this has been getting to know Michael and being able to welcome him to Stockholm and bring his perspective, his questions, and his work into the museum. It has truly been an honor.

I was ridiculously nervous during the past spring and summer, but now I am so happy with how the exhibition was received! Here are some pictures from the weekend - now over a month later. It was really so much fun, but I was so exhausted after! I’ve been catching up with my kids since (they got sick, again) and haven’t really had time for much else, but I’ll try to be more active and share more pictures in the coming days and weeks

21/10/2023

Contemporary artist Michael Rakowitz touches upon the implications of displaced and changing cultural objects in his artwork series 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 (2007-ongoing). In the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the National Museum of Iraq was looted and around 15000 artifacts were stolen. The art-project is an ongoing commitment to recuperate 7000+ objects which remain missing.
The reconstructions are made from Middle Eastern food packaging and local Arabic and Assyrian newspapers found in cities across the United States. They reference cooking as a symbol of survival, resistance and joy and allude to museum artifacts’ and refugees’ sometimes veiled origin. In this way, the ancient objects, as well as the people who made and cared for them, are given form in the reappearances imagined by the artist. Simultaneously, they function as placeholders for the lost Iraqi lives that did not receive as much public uproar as the lost artifacts.

In the exhibition BeLonging at seven small sculptures from this series are shown: one cylinder seal with sealing, five ivory carvings, and one female head.

Michael Rakowitz
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵
2007-ongoing
group of 7 objects from cardboard, Middle Eastern packaging and news-papers, glue, museum labels
Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Barbara Wien

Photo: Karl Zetterström

06/10/2023

On Monday I have my final examination from the master’s programme in curating. Spending all my time this week catching up with my kids, preparing for the examination, and resting, I have not yet taken the time to share any pictures from the opening last weekend. But it’s coming! Thank you to everyone who came and who wanted to come but couldn’t make it. Means the world to me. Here’s a little snippet about one of the objects on display:

𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚊, 𝚌𝚊 𝟷𝟻𝟶𝟶-𝟷𝟷𝟶𝟶 𝙱𝙲, 𝙸𝚛𝚊𝚗.
Large numbers of moulded terracotta figurines have been found in houses and temples in Mesopotamia and Elam (western Iran). Often, they portray adorned n**e female figures. Since they became so popular, it is believed the figurines had special properties, but we do not yet know what these were.

Do you have any theories? Informed guesses? Research I’ve missed?

Speculations include: fertility, childbirth/motherhood, erotic – basically the qualities traditionally ascribed by (western) scholars to any female depictions from Mesopotamia.

28/09/2023

NY UTSTÄLLNING - ÖPPNING 30 SEPTEMBER. 💥

Den hyllade och flertalet prisbelönta konstnären Michael Rakowitz tar pågående konstprojekt till Medelhavsmuseet för ett unikt möte med arkeologiska föremål från Mesopotamien.

Under den amerikanska invasionen av Irak 2003 plundrades Iraks Nationalmuseum och omkring 15 000 föremål stals. Konstprojektet "The invisible enemy should not exist" av konstnären Michael Rakowitz är ett pågående arbete i att återskapa de över 7000 föremål som fortfarande saknas.

I utställningen "BeLonging" på Medelhavsmuseet visas nu för första gången Rakowitz föremål i dialog med arkeologiska föremål från Mesopotamien ur Världskulturmuseernas samlingar.

“Tillsammans avspeglar de gemensamma erfarenheter av plats, längtar och tillhörighet. I forntid och nutid” säger curator Ninhursag Tadaros, som gör detta som sin examensutställning på Masterprogrammet i Curating Art, Stockholms Universitet.

På lördag är det officiell öppning av utställningen och Michael Rakowitz är på plats för att delta i panelsamtal och konstnärssamtal.

Läs mer om dagen här: https://bit.ly/48r003H

Välkommen på öppning av BeLonging!

18/09/2023

𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐑𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐳 (b. 1973, New York, US) is a Chicago-based Iraqi-American artist. He describes his work as an intersection between problem-solving and troublemaking. Known for his installations, sculptures and multimedia projects where he weaves together complex histories, he shines light on the tense relation between the Global West and the Middle East. Rakowitz highlights both the loss of Middle Eastern cultural heritage and the human suffering imposed by war, political upheaval, and foreign occupation. He strives to complicate the current narrative around cultural heritage, ongoing forces of colonization, as well as colonial- and postcolonial discourses. He touches upon the fraught relationship between preservation and destruction in modern archaeology and cultural heritage work.

His work has been exhibited worldwide, most notably at dOCUMENTA (13); the 16th Sydney Biennale; the 10th and 14th Istanbul Biennale; Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli; P.S.1 MoMA, New York; Kiasma, Helsinki; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Victoria & Albert Museum and Tate Modern, London and many more. In Sweden, his works have previously been shown at Malmö Konsthall and Tensta Konsthall.

In 2020, Rakowitz received the prestigious Nasher Prize and was awarded the 2018–2020 Fourth Plinth commission in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Photo: Wadi Mhiri

LINK IN BIO: read more and get tickets to see some of his works shown in dialogue with ancient objects from Mesopotamia at the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm.

16/09/2023

𝕆𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜𝕖𝕟𝕕: 𝔽𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕪 & 𝕊𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝟚𝟡-𝟛𝟘/𝟡 —— 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘰
Finally! This is what I’ve been working on all spring and summer!!! An exhibition with contemporary artist Michael Rakowitz and the Mesopotamian collection at the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities. The exhibition is my final graduation project from the MA in Curating Art at Stockholm University.

If you’re in Stockholm, don’t miss the opening weekend! Vernissage and preview Friday 29/9, 5pm at Medelhavsmuseet, Fredsgatan 2 in Stockholm. Link in bio. Saturday 30/9 public opening: 1:30 pm — panel with yours truly, Michael Rakowitz, & Maria Dahlström (curator for endangered heritage) and 3pm artist talk. All moderated by Nathalie Besèr, journalist and former Middle East correspondent!

Through the art-series The invisible enemy should not exist (2007-ongoing) Michael Rakowitz is has committed to ‘reappear’ objects looted from the National Museum of Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003.

In the exhibition, these ‘reappeared’ sculptures by Rakowitz are shown together with other displaced Mesopotamian artifacts. Together they reflect shared experiences of place, longing, and belonging from antiquity until today.

The Ballad of Special Ops Cody (2017) is shown together with the sculptures and the voice of war veteran Gin McGill-Prather echoes questions asked silently by the objects: Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here? Don’t you want to go home?

ninhursaga.com

11/01/2024

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29/12/2023

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