The Enemy Kitchen food truck has an erratic and unpredictable schedule. Most of the time it sits on the plaza outside the Museum of Contemporary Art, which is currently showing “Backstroke of the West,” a midcareer survey of the work of the food truck’s proprietor, the artist Michael Rakowitz. (Do not call it a retrospective. “A retrospective,” says Rakowitz, “is a living funeral.”) Inside the gallery, a plaque briefly tells the story of Enemy Kitchen‘s history and mission, and describes the truck itself as an “installation.”
Today’s Enemy Kitchen service begins, as usual, with a brief welcoming speech/artist talk from Rakowitz. Initially he thought about incorporating the Yom Kippur themes of atonement and forgiveness, but instead he decides to focus on the story of the truck itself. It goes like this:
“Here was a panorama of the misinformation that let the war go on,” Rakowitz now says.
While the Enemy Kitchen food truck is one of the few openly Iraqi institutions in the city, it’s not the only place that serves Iraqi food. “There are Iraqi restaurants in Chicago,” Rakowitz tells the crowd, “but they don’t tell you because of xenophobia. They say they’re ‘Mediterranean.’ But if they serve masgouf, it’s a sign.”
“These narratives about nationalism erased everything,” Rakowitz says. “There was a pluralistic and cosmopolitan society in Iraq that’s been lost to the past. My projects are a blueprint for going forward and speaking fearlessly about a time when there weren’t divisions. It’s a way of rescuing. It’s a way of being in the world, of hospitality and community beyond bloodlines. In terms of world history [the exodus of the Jews from Iraq] was just 10 AM this morning. It’s not too late for a reanimation of pluralism, to show how things can be.”
