Whilst vast amounts of objects, sculptures and monuments are destroyed throughout history with different rationales, the destruction by ISIS in 2015 spawned a renewed concern to cultural heritage. In Material Speculation: ISIS, Allahyari creates a practical and political possibility for artefact archival, whilst proposing 3D printing technology as a tool for both resistance and documentation, as well as a process for repairing history and memory.

Material Speculation: ISIS goes beyond metaphoric gesture (and digital and material forms of artefacts) by including a flash drive and a memory card inside the body of each 3D printed object. The information on these flash drives includes images, maps, pdf files, and videos, detailing the artefacts and sites that were destroyed. Sourced by an intense research process involving archaeologists, historians, and museum staff (from Mosul Museum to archaeologists and historians in Iraq and Iran), these 3D printable files are in the process of being archived and made available online to download and be used by the public.