An aerial image from ISIS’s video (all YouTube screenshots by the author for Hyperallergic)
A video uploaded to YouTube on Friday, purportedly by ISIS, shows men using sledgehammers, pickaxes, and rifles to destroy sculptures at the Hatra archaeological site. The footage seems to confirm fears raised last month by reports that the terrorist organization had used bulldozers to demolish part of the fortified city, which was built between the third and second centuries BCE and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
A member of ISIS destroying a sculpture at Hatra (gif by the author for Hyperallergic)
ISIS fighters had allegedly targeted the ancient city following their attacks on the Mosul Museum and Nineveh archaeological site in late February. But unlike the shoddy, shaky, and low-resolution video that documented the earlier attack, the video that surfaced on Friday is a crisp and sleek production. In its Hatra video, ISIS uses a drone, animated logos, montage-style editing, and sophisticated camera angles to create a cohesive aesthetic that is light years ahead of the Mosul Museum footage — maybe the group has started spending some of the $1.5–3.6 million it makes every day from oil sales on video production.
An animated title screen in ISIS’s Hatra video
The seven-and-a-half-minute clip opens with a tacky underwater logo, followed by footage taken by a drone high above Hatra, with animated infographics indicating the two buildings where the ensuing destruction occurred. After a fighter addresses the camera while footage shows sculptures about to be destroyed, an animated logo swoops onscreen and then crumbles to the sound of shattering stone, prompting a fast-paced montage of terrorists destroying artworks. In a later sequence, a fighter is shown shooting an out-of-reach sculpture from an angle that is eerily reminiscent of a first-person shooter video game. The high production values of the latest ISIS clip is in keeping with its previous video endeavors, which have incorporated the use of green screens and other special effects.
Using a rifle to destroy a sculpture
The extent of the destruction wrought on Hatra by ISIS is difficult to measure from the video. While it shows no evidence of the rumored bulldozing of the site, it does document the destruction of many sculptural details of buildings at the site. Hatra is about 70 miles south of Mosul, in northern Iraq.
The video has been removed from YouTube, but this low-quality version is available (for now) on Vimeo:
The Latest
Memories So Fair and Bright
Kimetha Vanderveen’s paintings are about the interaction of materiality and light, the bond between the palpable and ephemeral world in which we live.
Artists Contemplate Sovereignty in Santa Fe
The Santa Fe Art Institute’s 2024 International Thematic Residency focuses on what sovereignty means for artists from across the world.
When I Am Empty Please Dispose of Me Properly
Ayanna Dozier, Ilana Harris-Babou, Meena Hasan, Lucia Hierro, Catherine Opie, Chuck Ramirez, and Pacifico Silano explore the myths of the American Dream at Brooklyn’s BRIC House.
How Did Early Modern European Craftspeople Pass On Their Knowledge?
A new book about object making critically examines a written history of working with materials.
Dual Portrait of Old Master Rachel Ruysch Holds a Trove of Secrets
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has just acquired the rare painting, which depicts the Dutch artist at work surrounded by her signature flora.
Pratt’s 2023 Fine Arts MFA Thesis Exhibition Is On View in Brooklyn
The two-part exhibition features the work of 41 graduating artists across disciplines, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, and integrated practices.
Did Van Gogh’s Disdain for the Eiffel Tower Inspire “Starry Night”?
Art historian James Hall argues that van Gogh replaced the Eiffel Tower with a towering cypress tree and its inaugural light shows with the night sky.
Greek Museum Welcomes Dogs For World Stray Animal Day
Furry friends and their pawrents can visit Athens’s National Museum of Contemporary Art for free this weekend.
The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation Presents The Feminine in Abstract Painting
Curated by Jennifer Samet and Andrea Belag, this group exhibition in NYC explores the feminine through aesthetics, as opposed to identity or gender.
Ai Weiwei Recreates Monet’s “Water Lilies” Using 650,000 LEGOS
It’s the artist’s largest LEGO artwork to date.
Did a Simpsons Episode Predict the Florida “David” Outrage?
The episode, which aired 30 years ago, made a dark prediction about conservative politics in 2023.
NYU Steinhardt Opens 2023 MFA Thesis Exhibitions
Taking place at 80WSE Gallery in New York’s Greenwich Village, Part I is on view from late March through April while Part II opens in May.
Coasting the Topography of South Asian Futurisms
As part of Hyperallergic’s Emily Hall Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators, Sadaf Padder presents an exhibition to offer insight into her curatorial process.
I’m a Florida Drag Queen and I’m Scared
I’m truly at a loss for what to do for work and what kind of life I can expect to live.