Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures, the trilogy of exhibitions bridging Ancient Cultures and Contemporary Art was presented today by Dr. Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture, Dimitris Daskalopoulos, NEON Founder, artist Michael Rakowitz,  Professor Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis, Acropolis Museum General Directo Elina Kountouri, Director of NEON.

This collaboration between the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Acropolis Museum, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens, and NEON initiates a deep and meaningful dialogue between contemporary works and ancient artefacts. This partnership underscores enduring themes of cultural heritage, loss and restitution, survival, and the ongoing creation of culture.

The trilogy represents a dialogue rich in concepts, emotion, and political resonance – deeply relevant to our times. The works recall recurring traumatic historical events – war, looting, theft, colonialism, and migration – while drawing attention to the present-day fate of war-torn regions and the forgotten journeys of displaced peoples and cultural treasures. The trilogy unites classical and contemporary cultures of this region within the Acropolis Museum, extending to the Rock of the Acropolis and the Parthenon, an emblem of Western civilisation. It represents the dynamic interplay of civilisations that have shaped both the classical and modern worlds.

The trilogy starts in 2025 at the Acropolis Museum with the exhibition Allspice | Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures, curated by Professor Nikos Stampolidis, Director General of the Acropolis Museum, and Elina Kountouri, Director of NEON, continues in the museum’s western exterior area leading to Mitseon Street, and concludes in 2026 at the Old Acropolis Museum on the Acropolis Hill.

Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture, states: ‘The collaboration between the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and NEON has consistently demonstrated its value in recent years. Contemporary artworks are placed at carefully chosen archaeological sites,in a constructive dialogue, enriching the continuity and timeless depth of Greek culture. Our collaboration on this trilogy is even more robust and focused. A remarkable civilisation – that of the Assyrians, among the oldest of the Mediterranean civilisations – enters into a harmonious dialogue and creative synergy with Greek antiquities and with the modern creations of Michael Rakowitz, who draws inspiration from the biblical kingdom of ancient Assyria and its enduring masterpieces of Mesopotamian art. Tragically, some of these works have only recently suffered looting and destruction. Many, either intact or in fragments, were stolen and violently removed from the places that created them. Beyond all the other multiple meanings of the trilogy, it directly alludes to the destruction and violent seizure of the Parthenon Sculptures.