Often the perspectives of communities are not visible in displays devoted to the very histories and heritage of their homeland, but in Owning the Past community voices are woven through the narrative of the exhibition. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Piers Secunda has spent two years recreating artefacts destroyed by ISIS in Iraq. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
The central installation of the exhibition has been created by laser scanning and 3D printing the Ashmolean Museum’s Assyrian relief, which stands in the Welcome Space. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
The pieces of the installation are cast by Piers in industrial floor paint and the broken stone texture is transferred from moulds which Piers made from the ISIS smashed sculptures in the Mosul Museum. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Casts for Damage Field. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
In 2018 Piers visited the Mosul Museum, in northern Iraq, where he saw the damage to the Museum collections caused by Islamic State, and he was given permission by Iraq’s Minister of Culture to mould the broken stone surfaces of destroyed sculptures, from the Assyrian Rooms. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Mosul Museum Interiors. Piers used the charcoal gathered from the partly burned Mosul Museum to make ink by the traditional process of grinding the charcoal into a powder with a mortar and pestle, mixing in with alcohol and then Gum Arabic. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Mosul Museum Interiors. He used this ink to make a series of drawings based on photographs taken inside the Mosul Museum, bringing burned remnants of the artefacts and the building back to life as new works of art. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
A Sumerian figure. This statue was uncovered by soldiers of the Indian army serving with the British, digging trenches at Isatalabat, on the banks of the River Tigris. It dates to around 2400 BC and the front of the figure has been damaged by the pick of the soldier who discovered it. The regiment’s commanding officer donated the statue to the Ashmolean in 1919. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Assyrian Relief. This carved slab is one of many such gypsum panels that lined the walls of important rooms in the so-called Northwest Palace at Nimrud, capital of Assyria, in what is now northern Iraq. This example was especially important as the imagery was designed to offer magical protection to the royal throne room.Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Local community workshops. Owning the Past looks at the creation of Iraq’s geographic borders and the impact that this had on its communities, as expressed by local participants from the Middle East. The museum has worked closely with Oxford residents from the Middle East to include their thoughts about who owns their heritage and who tells their histories. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
The Ashmolean’s exhibition team included two paid Community Ambassadors, who engaged directly with friends, colleagues and communities, coordinating a series of workshops on identity, heritage and histories. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Often the perspectives of communities are not visible in displays devoted to the very histories and heritage of their homeland, but in Owning the Past community voices are woven through the narrative of the exhibition. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Piers Secunda has spent two years recreating artefacts destroyed by ISIS in Iraq. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
The central installation of the exhibition has been created by laser scanning and 3D printing the Ashmolean Museum’s Assyrian relief, which stands in the Welcome Space. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
The pieces of the installation are cast by Piers in industrial floor paint and the broken stone texture is transferred from moulds which Piers made from the ISIS smashed sculptures in the Mosul Museum. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Casts for Damage Field. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
In 2018 Piers visited the Mosul Museum, in northern Iraq, where he saw the damage to the Museum collections caused by Islamic State, and he was given permission by Iraq’s Minister of Culture to mould the broken stone surfaces of destroyed sculptures, from the Assyrian Rooms. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Mosul Museum Interiors. Piers used the charcoal gathered from the partly burned Mosul Museum to make ink by the traditional process of grinding the charcoal into a powder with a mortar and pestle, mixing in with alcohol and then Gum Arabic. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Mosul Museum Interiors. He used this ink to make a series of drawings based on photographs taken inside the Mosul Museum, bringing burned remnants of the artefacts and the building back to life as new works of art. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
A Sumerian figure. This statue was uncovered by soldiers of the Indian army serving with the British, digging trenches at Isatalabat, on the banks of the River Tigris. It dates to around 2400 BC and the front of the figure has been damaged by the pick of the soldier who discovered it. The regiment’s commanding officer donated the statue to the Ashmolean in 1919. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Assyrian Relief. This carved slab is one of many such gypsum panels that lined the walls of important rooms in the so-called Northwest Palace at Nimrud, capital of Assyria, in what is now northern Iraq. This example was especially important as the imagery was designed to offer magical protection to the royal throne room.Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Local community workshops. Owning the Past looks at the creation of Iraq’s geographic borders and the impact that this had on its communities, as expressed by local participants from the Middle East. The museum has worked closely with Oxford residents from the Middle East to include their thoughts about who owns their heritage and who tells their histories. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
The Ashmolean’s exhibition team included two paid Community Ambassadors, who engaged directly with friends, colleagues and communities, coordinating a series of workshops on identity, heritage and histories. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
Often the perspectives of communities are not visible in displays devoted to the very histories and heritage of their homeland, but in Owning the Past community voices are woven through the narrative of the exhibition. Courtesy Ashmolean, University of Oxford
