Mona Hatoum (b. 1952) turns the concept of “home” on its head in her latest exhibition at Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort. The British-Palestinian artist was born in Lebanon as the daughter of Palestinian exiles and has lived in London since 1975. This show spans Hatoum’s career: from 1980s performance and videos to recent sculptures, installations and works on paper. Titled Inside Out, it revolves around themes of control, displacement and the precarity of human existence. It is the first comprehensive survey of the artist’s work in the Netherlands, following retrospectives Tate Modern, London, and Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Hatoum is a major name and is recognised for transforming everyday domestic items – from cooking utensils to chairs and beds – into threatening minimalist sculptures. Steel, barbed wire and glass are materials-of-choice. Inside Out features Paravent (2008), for example, in which a cheese grater is scaled up to the size of a room divider that aggressively cuts across the gallery space. Elsewhere, Home (1999) sees an electric current course through an assemblage of kitchen items, whilst Remains (cabinet) (2019), presents the remnants of a burnt-out wooden kitchen cabinet. Here, home is not a haven. Instead, it is a place of danger, hostility and entrapment, where nothing is to be trusted – or even touched.
A stand-out work from this show is Hot Spot (2013), a cage-like globe with the continents outlined in red neon. In military jargon, a ‘hot spot’ is an area of political or social unrest. Here, the whole globe buzzes with an intense glow; Hatoum reminds us that the entire planet is caught up in conflict. Likewise, in Map (mobile) (2019), the threat of imminent destruction is ever-present. Sheet-glass continents are precariously suspended from the ceiling by thin cables. Even the slightest airflow results in movement, creating a risk of disaster should the panels collide. It’s an eerie concept, especially in the wake of January 2025, when the Doomsday Clock was moved the closest to destruction it has ever been: 89 seconds to midnight.
Hatoum is a master of the uncanny. She turns the familiar into the frightening, creating works that balance on a knife edge. In Inside Out, home becomes a site of peril and the world – once so big – is cut down to size. Hatoum’s use of subversion is immensely powerful. It encourages audiences to do a double take and, ultimately, look at global news events from a different angle. Whilst Hatoum never focuses on any specific conflict, she remains centred on the universal experience of war and is dedicated to communicating the trauma of exile and displacement. Her art is perhaps more relevant right now than ever before.
Inside Out is at Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, until 5 May.
Images:
1. Mona Hatoum, Hot Spot III, 2009. ©Mona Hatoum. Courtesy the artist and MdbK Leipzig.
2. Mona Hatoum, Paravent, 2008. © Mona Hatoum. Courtesy Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin Paris.
