Don’t Take My Stuff. Tell My Story. Dream Rocket & Oriental Institute Exhibit Additional Information for Teachers Today, heritage is under threat as never before. Political instability, conflict, as well as the lesser-known cause of urban growth have made the destruction and looting of archaeological sites widespread around the world. Even when an artifact that has been looted from an archaeological site is recovered by proper parties, the most important piece of information about that artifact has been lost: its context. An artifact that loses its context loses its story - we no longer know where it was last laid down thousands of years ago or what other artifacts it sat next to for centuries. When an archaeological site has been damaged, a page that tells the story of mankind (aka “history”) has been ripped out before it could ever be written. In memory of the history that has been lost due to the destruction of archaeological sites and hope for the history yet to be discovered by archaeologists, the Oriental Institute invites students and teachers from the Greater Chicago Area to create 2dimensional art that speaks to the theme “Don’t Take My Stuff. Tell My Story.” Additional resources and inspiration for students can be found at oi.uchicago.edu/threatened-heritage.