The CaixaForum Madrid is a cultural centre in the heart of Madrid and was a former power station, it is owned by the not-for-profit banking foundation "la Caixa" and opened its doors in 2008 and hosts temporary art exhibitions and cultural events.
The exhibition is titled ‘I AM ASURBANIPAL. KING OF THE WORLD, KING OF ASSYRIA’ traces through images, artefacts and digital imaging the life and times of Ashurbanipal, the King of Assyria and King of the Universe who ruled from 669 to 631 BC.
The King of Assyria employed both violence and terror whilst housing in his palace a library of cuneiform tablets with the ambition of compiling all existing knowledge and the spread of artistic styles, schools of thought, and human migrations throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The contradictions are stark.
But whilst we are directed to travel through the collection symbolising the life and times of this all powerful king and the expansion of his empire through wars and its ultimate defeat at the hands of its vengeful enemies it is the final room with its focus on the Iraqi wars (Gulf War 1990 - 91) and the 2014 - 2017 destruction by Islamic State of the cultural heritage of Iraq including the ancient sites of the King of Assyria that the exhibition hits home. War begets War!
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