Iraqi Dates Arrive

Artist-cum-importer Michael Rakowitz, the proprietor of the Middle Eastern grocery and shipping center on Atlantic Avenue (which also happens to be an art installation), finally has his Iraqi dates. A one-ton shipment of the sweet fruit–which Rakowitz described to the NY Times as a distinctive national product on a par with Cuban cigars, and just as hard to find in the U.S.–was destined for his store more than two months ago but was held up at the Iraq-Jordan border. U.S. Customs delayed the process even longer, and then the original shipment spoiled, meaning a new one had to be sent out.

On receiving the dates, Rakowitz was emotional. “They became something else that I couldn’t have predicted at the outset,” he told the Times. “These dates were representative of every person who wasn’t able to get out.”

Bittersweet Talismans From a Ravaged Land [NY Times]
Waiting for Iraqi Dates [Brooklyn Record]
Still Waiting for Iraqi Dates [Brooklyn Record]