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| 'It’s showing how technology [and] how the public can contribute to recovering cultural heritage when it’s destroyed' |
Tamsin Silvey, Curator at Historic England
In 2015, ISIS released footage purporting to show their fighters smashing artefacts and toppling statues at Mosul Museum in Baghdad, Iraq.
Like the Bamiyan Buddahs in Afghanistan, the artefacts within the museum's walls were destroyed in the name of religion.
The Lion of Mosul was a colossal Assyrian guardian lion from about 860 BC, which once stood at the entrance of the Temple of Ishtar in Nimrud, Iraq.
The statue was destroyed while on display at the Mosul Museum, and was one of the many artefacts in the collection destroyed by ISIS.
It was part of a pair of lions, the other of which is on display at the British Museum. |
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| WHAT REMAINS |
Until 5 January 2020 at IWM London
One of three free exhibitions. What Remains explores why culture and heritage is attacked in war. Curated in partnership with Historic England. |
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Three years later, the artist Piers Secunda travelled to the museum to examine what had been destroyed and what remained after ISIS had been driven out.
‘You see the pictures ISIS made, propaganda films about what they were doing and they filmed it in great detail and it’s harrowing to watch, it’s really disturbing and you feel it, you really feel it inside.’
Seeing the damage at the Museum in person was ‘disturbing in the extreme’, and Secunda also travelled with the Iraqi military to the town of Qaraqosh, which had been occupied by ISIS.
Seeing the destruction at Qaraqosh so soon after seeing the damage in Mosul was an ‘emotional overload’.
Now, you can view a 3D print of the Lion as part of What Remains. This marks the first time Google Arts & Culture will be presenting an object or artwork as part of a museum exhibition.
You can also learn more about the Lion of Mosul with Google Arts & Culture. |
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| CULTURE UNDER ATTACK |
Until 5 January 2020 at IWM London
Alongside What Remains, we've two more exhibitions running at IWM London. Hear the stories of music and resistance in Rebel Sounds, or trace IWM's own story in Art in Exile. |
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| You may also be interested in... |
Now is the Time to Say Nothing
2-19 October, Battersea Art Centre
Take a seat, switch on your headphones and go beyond the headlines. With stunning video and immersive sound, filmmaker Reem Karssli connects you with the human story of the Syrian conflict. |
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