A statue composed mainly of empty date syrup cans has been unveiled today on the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.
The latest occupant of the plinth has been made by Jewish artist Michael Rakowitz, an Iraqi-American who is renowned for his conceptual works which are often sited in public spaces.
The @MayorofLondon unveils new Trafalgar Sq Fourth Plinth - a recreation of Lamassu of Niveneh, destroyed by ISIS in 2015... pic.twitter.com/NUhGYJswZQ
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) March 28, 2018
The new work replicates an ancient statue that was destroyed by Daesh/ISIS in Iraq. Entitled The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist.It has been positioned to symbolically face towards its origin in Nineveh.
It is a sculpture of a lamassu, a mythological winged half man half bull that stood guard over the city of Nineveh for over a thousand years until it was destroyed by the anti-cultural forces of the so-called Islamic State
