This paper considers the destruction of the Arch of Palmyra in Syria in 2015 and its temporary reconstruction a year later in London’s Trafalgar Square. Attention is paid to an adjacent pedestal known as the Fourth Plinth, with a particular focus on a proposed monument by the Iraqi-American conceptual artist, Michael Rakowitz (born 1973). His works provide the basis for a discussion of public memorials and art’s commemorative function; the preservation, destruction and politicization of heritage; the role of technology for the purposes of documentation and reconstruction; notions of authenticity; ethics and legal issues surrounding the global trade in cultural artifacts.
Stuart Burch, "A Virtual Oasis: Trafalgar Square's Arch of Palymra," Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research. Vol. 11, issue 3 (November, 2017): 58-77.
ISSN
1938-7806. OCLC 145980807; LOC 2007212183.
