Stolen Past: Opening Evening

Join us as we gather for the opening evening of Hrair Sarkissian's Stolen Past. 

The exhibition focuses on the collection of the Raqqa Museum in Northern Syria which was looted by Islamic State between 2013 and 2017. Stolen Past features a series of lithophanes 3D-printed by the artist that reveal images of destroyed or lost artefacts from Raqqa, ranging from ceramic vessels to clay tablets and ancient figurines. The work draws attention to the determined local efforts to recover cultural heritage, while also highlighting the damage caused by the global illicit trade in antiquities. By making absence visible, the exhibition invites audiences to reflect on cultural erasure, collective memory and the systems that enable the displacement of heritage. 

Cassette tapes sourced in Lebanon, Armenia, and through community donations that trace the Armenian diaspora form the Analog Armenia archive. For the opening, recordings of folk songs, music, radio broadcasts, and spoken recordings are offered as a soundscape throughout the spaces of Ibraaz. Additional audio interventions reflect the instability of memory in recognition of histories that are fragmented, altered and, continually reconstructed.

Stolen Past is co-commissioned by the Aichi Triennial and Ibraaz.