Michael Rakowitz, The Waiting Gardens of the North, 2023, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, installation view. Photo: John McKenzie.
A new site-specific installation by Michael Rakowitz is on display at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, the focus of his solo exhibition The Waiting Gardens of the North.
The Waiting Gardens of the North is centred around a relief panel from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal (668–631 BCE) in Nineveh depicting the Assyrian gardens, believed to have preceded what is now known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The original panel has been housed in the British Museum since 1856. The exhibition sees Rakowitz recreate this panel in a monumental scale, using his signature collage technique with food packaging, locally sourced from South Asian and African grocery stores.
Commissioned by Baltic in partnership with the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund, this major project responds to conflict by, figuratively and literally, nurturing a community and an evolving indoor garden landscape.
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