[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.60,0:00:15.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember my mother bringing us \Nto the British Museum in London.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.52,0:00:20.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother's family was from Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.60,0:00:24.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She brought us immediately \Nto the Assyrian galleries
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.64,0:00:29.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and into the room that had \Nthe Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.44,0:00:37.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's nothing cooler than being ten years old \Nand learning that this is the first comic book
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.12,0:00:39.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and your people are responsible for it.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.12,0:00:43.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She turned to us and she said,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.04,0:00:45.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"What is it doing here?"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.36,0:00:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which made us keenly aware that
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.00,0:00:51.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these museums were not just \Nthese polite reliquaries
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.76,0:00:55.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for things that have been \Nexchanged amongst cultures--
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.28,0:00:57.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that these were violently extracted.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.44,0:01:03.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a museum, but it was also a crime palace.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.14,0:01:08.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Michael Rakowitz: Haunting the West]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.20,0:01:27.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The invisible enemy should not exist" is \Nthis on-going work that I began in 2006.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.56,0:01:31.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.36,0:01:36.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eight-thousand-plus artifacts were \Nlooted from the National Museum of Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.52,0:01:42.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started to think about what it would mean \Nfor those artifacts to come back as ghosts
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.80,0:01:45.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to haunt Western museums.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.80,0:01:52.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This project has unfortunately grown to include
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.27,0:01:56.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the archaeological sites that have \Nbeen devastated by groups like ISIS.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.56,0:02:04.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This installation is Room F in \Nthe northwest palace of Nimrud.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.16,0:02:06.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When it was destroyed in 2015,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.96,0:02:11.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was holding two hundred reliefs.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.16,0:02:15.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, it originally had over \Nsix hundred of these reliefs.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.20,0:02:20.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The majority of those reliefs \Nwere excavated in the mid-1800s
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.80,0:02:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then sent to different Western institutions.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.56,0:02:32.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The West assigns value on the \Nobjects from that part of the world
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.08,0:02:36.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it's not at all symmetrical \Nwhen you consider the way in which
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.48,0:02:40.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's been this devaluation of the \Npeople that are from those places.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.12,0:02:49.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The reliefs are situated in accordance \Nwith the original architectural footprint.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.68,0:02:54.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What this project seeks to do is \Nput the viewer into the position
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.24,0:02:59.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of an Iraqi inside that palace \Nthe day before ISIS destroyed it,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.60,0:03:04.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to show how much of their \Nhistory they didn't have access to,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.72,0:03:08.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the gaps that they were forced \Nto be looking at and looking through.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.92,0:03:19.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These artifacts were also forcibly removed the \Nway that my family was from my mother's homeland.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.16,0:03:28.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother's family left Iraq in 1947
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.48,0:03:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the result of the emergence of \Nnationalist ideologies in the Middle East.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.48,0:03:39.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Iraqi Jews were kind of \Nin an impossible situation.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.84,0:03:45.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When they entered the U.S., there must have \Nbeen all kinds of pressures to assimilate.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.76,0:03:49.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their assimilation story was not \None where they gave everything up.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.40,0:03:54.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My grandparents were like the first \Ninstallation artists that I ever met.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.64,0:03:56.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The house in Great Neck, Long Island,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.88,0:03:59.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,everything that was on the floor was from Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.84,0:04:02.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everything this was on the walls was from Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.72,0:04:07.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what was coming out of the \Nkitchen was most definitely from Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.96,0:04:19.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was in my senior year of high school,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.76,0:04:24.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the first Gulf War happened \Nin front of my brothers and I.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.48,0:04:28.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother said to us,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.08,0:04:32.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Do you know there's no Iraqi \Nrestaurants in New York?"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.00,0:04:40.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What she was pointing out was that Iraqi culture \Nin the U.S. was not visible beyond oil and war.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.88,0:04:46.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As we were approaching another Iraq war,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.32,0:04:50.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started a project that I could \Ncollaborate with my mother on.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.88,0:04:53.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That became "Enemy Kitchen."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.40,0:04:58.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother distributed our family's recipes
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.80,0:05:01.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I would cook with these different groups.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.00,0:05:03.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--Make a little crater,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.68,0:05:06.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--and then you take a piece of the meat here,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.48,0:05:07.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--put it in the center...
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.72,0:05:13.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Enemy Kitchen" offered some kind \Nof opposition to the way in which
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.92,0:05:18.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the war framed everything \Nwhen we spoke about Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.48,0:05:27.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I always talk about the one that happened \Nin 2006 with a group of school kids.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.60,0:05:32.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The schools that they were going to \Nhad forbade a lot of the teachers
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.96,0:05:37.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from speaking about the war directly in \Ntheir classes because so many of them
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.64,0:05:44.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were connected to brothers and uncles--\Nand mothers and fathers--
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.08,0:05:46.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were stationed in Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.80,0:05:52.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was so unbelievably violent that \Nnobody ever thought to ask them
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.20,0:05:55.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what they thought of the war.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.56,0:06:01.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now "Enemy Kitchen" is a food truck \Nthat's staffed by Iraqi chefs.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.20,0:06:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sous chefs and servers \Nare American combat veterans
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.00,0:06:09.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that served in Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.76,0:06:12.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those stories are now mobilized.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.52,0:06:23.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The color schemes that my \Nstudio and I have chosen,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.68,0:06:27.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's a little bit like the \Ncolor returning to the body.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.12,0:06:33.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there's a whole range of different \Nmaterials that one sees represented.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.12,0:06:39.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The anise tea bags have created the yellowish \Npalette for the clothing of this "apkallu."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.92,0:06:43.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is one of my favorite colors.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.12,0:06:47.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This orange is actually an \Norange that I grew up with:
Dialogue: 0,0:06:47.68,0:06:52.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the outside packaging of an apricot paste.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:52.32,0:06:54.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was like the original Fruit Roll-Up.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.64,0:07:02.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If a ghost is going to properly haunt,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.78,0:07:07.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it has to appear differently than the \Nentity appeared when it was living.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.12,0:07:15.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These reliefs use the packaging \Nof Middle Eastern food stuffs.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.44,0:07:19.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because of Homeland Security, for \Nanything that is coming from Iraq,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.68,0:07:23.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it would be too prohibitive \Nfor somebody to import it.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.08,0:07:28.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A can of date syrup labeled \Nas being "product of Lebanon"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:28.88,0:07:31.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is actually processed in the Iraqi capital
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.52,0:07:35.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then it's driven to Lebanon where \Nit gets sold to the rest of the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.68,0:07:44.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The object in the museum holds its value \Nbecause it can tell you where it was from.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.32,0:07:48.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The date syrup not being able to \Ntell you where they were from,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.42,0:07:52.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was the skin that these \Nartifacts should have to wear
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.35,0:07:54.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when they come back as ghosts.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.64,0:08:06.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's more than eight thousand \Nartifacts that are still at large.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.64,0:08:11.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of those, we've made just a bit over nine hundred.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.28,0:08:16.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a project that is going \Nto outlive me and my studio.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.92,0:08:18.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--Hey!
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.68,0:08:20.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--Salaam!
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.54,0:08:24.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[ASSISTANT] --How are you?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.15,0:08:26.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[ALL LAUGH]
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.24,0:08:33.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[ASSISTANT]\N--I prepped some wing spines at my house.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.96,0:08:35.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[RAKOWITZ]\N--Oh, that's beautiful, Denise!
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.24,0:08:43.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once the studio went into lockdown \Nas a result of the pandemic,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.60,0:08:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was very adamant about making sure that \Neverybody in the studio was going to be okay.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.32,0:08:53.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wanted them to be able to continue to work.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.36,0:08:59.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The assistants come for a visit every few weeks
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.68,0:09:02.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they pick up more materials.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.92,0:09:11.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--I'm currently working on this funerary bust.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.40,0:09:17.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--I've just started working on an artifact \Nthat was originally from eastern Iraq.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.76,0:09:23.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,--This is a figure from Mesopotamia, \Nspecifically from the Khafaje region.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.44,0:09:29.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this moment where we've lost \Nthe close proximity to one another
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.68,0:09:32.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we're making these lost objects,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.77,0:09:35.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we still have these moments \Nwhere we can locate one another
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.44,0:09:37.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and feel like we're not alone.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.92,0:09:52.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was nominated in 2015 for \Nthe Fourth Plinth project in London,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.92,0:09:58.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ISIS attacked Nineveh and Nimrud.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.28,0:10:03.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The "lamassu" were basically reduced to pebbles.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.68,0:10:10.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I recognized the fact that I was going to \Nbe working in public space on a pedestal--
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.80,0:10:12.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this was the city of London,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.72,0:10:14.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the heart of empire--
Dialogue: 0,0:10:14.88,0:10:20.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a very short walk away \Nbrings one to the British Museum,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.24,0:10:23.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I had visited with my mother decades before,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:23.44,0:10:26.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where they have several "lamassu."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.32,0:10:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Tate Modern had reached out to me
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.00,0:10:49.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the possibility of them \Nserving as a custodian for this work.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.32,0:10:57.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I did not want to somehow just repeat these \Nimperial museums being seen as caretakers.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.76,0:11:02.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wanted the work to be \Nshared by an Iraqi museum.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.92,0:11:08.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It kept the problems of where \Nsomething belongs alive.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.76,0:11:12.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A diasporic sculpture with wings,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:12.32,0:11:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,moving between two places,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:15.00,0:11:18.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,representing the conditions of modern Iraqis,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.48,0:11:20.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where there's no fixed place.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.00,0:11:28.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If we're to have conversations about \Nwhat decolonization truly looks like,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.80,0:11:31.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's accompanied by repair
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.42,0:11:34.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's accompanied by accountability.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.08,0:11:37.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That work is actually something that's never done.