Headless Standing Female Figure, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist

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© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
Headless Standing Female Figure, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Photo by John Bentham.
Artist/Maker (Iraqi-American, born 1973)
Date2020
MediumMiddle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
DimensionsOverall: 11 1/4 × 4 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (28.6 × 10.8 × 6.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, William G. Roehrick '34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund
Object number2021.5.3
Not on view
DescriptionInventory number: Iraq Museum 41012 Excavation number: Ag. 35:549 Provenance: Tell Agrab Dimension(s): Height 30 cm Material: Alabaster Date: Early Dynastic II–III (ca. 2600–2400 bce) Description: Headless standing female figure Status: Unknown [One] piece has a very nice story. It was taken by two young men during the looting—they took nine very nice pieces to their houses. They came to us after the looting and they said, “Don’t ask for our names or addresses. We were in the museum at the time of the looting. We felt very sorry because we could not stop anything.” Then they decided they would take things and bring them back when it was safe. And they did it. As soon as we had the American soldiers protecting the museum, they brought back the nine pieces. —Donny George
Collections

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2021
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). MICHAEL RAKOWITZ: NIMRUD, October 19, 2020 - June 18, 2021.
Provenance 2021: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by purchase from Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago.
© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
Rectangular Base of Statue with Feet and Lower Legs, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
Michael Rakowitz
Date: 2020
Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
Object number: 2021.5.5
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
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Object number: 1868.5
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Kneeling Male Figure Facing Left, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
Michael Rakowitz
Date: 2020
Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
Object number: 2021.5.6
© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
Fragment of Female Head, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
Michael Rakowitz
Date: 2020
Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
Object number: 2021.5.11
© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
Male Head, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
Michael Rakowitz
Date: 2020
Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
Object number: 2021.5.4
© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
Fragments of Rectangular Plaque with Three Rows of Reliefs, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
Michael Rakowitz
Date: 2020
Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
Object number: 2021.5.7
© Michael Rakowitz. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton Colle…
Fragment of Plaque with Relief Decoration, from the series The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist
Michael Rakowitz
Date: 2020
Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
Object number: 2021.5.10
Photograph by John Bentham.
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Date: 2021
Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, on panel, with accompanying didactic information
Object number: 2021.5.2
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Date: 2020
Medium: Middle Eastern food packaging, Arabic-language U.S. newspapers, and glue, with accompanying didactic information
Object number: 2021.5.8