With the exhibition Mona Hatoum, three Berlin institutions present the multifaceted work of Mona Hatoum (b. 1952 in Beirut, lives in London) in the first large-scale survey of her work in Berlin. The three-part exhibition takes place at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (15.9.2022 – 13.11.2022), Georg Kolbe Museum (15.9.2022 – 8.1.2023) and KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art (18.9.2022 – 29.5.2023).

Mona Hatoum is considered one of the most important and influential artists of her generation. Her performances, videos, photographs, sculptures, installations and works on paper deal with issues of displacement, marginalisation, exclusion and state control – themes she examines against the backdrop of both her own biography and current societal developments. The exhibition project, including an accompanying programme and publication, brings together key works by Hatoum from the performance and video work of the 1980s to varied productions from the last two decades as well as new, site-specific sculptures and installations.

The exhibition at n.b.k. focuses on Hatoum’s dealings with the physical and psychological implications of structural repression through both domestic scenes as well as global scenarios. Her works address experiences of uprootedness – whether as a dissociative moment, trauma, or empowerment. Her ambiguous treatment of notions of home, gender roles and human vulnerability is a compelling artistic contribution to today’s pressing issues.

Mona Hatoum lives and works in London and since her DAAD scholarship in 2003/04 has kept a second home in Berlin. The artist was born in Beirut in 1952 to Palestinian parents. While on a brief visit to London in 1975, civil war broke out in Lebanon and prevented her from returning home.

Mona Hatoum’s work has been presented in solo exhibitions at prestigious institutions worldwide, including: Magasin III Museum for Contemporary Art, Stockholm (2022); IVAM - Institut Valencià d‘Art Modern, Spain (2021); Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis (2018); Menil Collection, Houston (2017); Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (2017); Centre Pompidou, Paris / Tate Modern, London / Nykytaiteen Museo Kiasma, Helsinki (2015–2016); Mathaf: Arab Museum of Contemporary Art, Doha, Qatar (2014); Beirut Art Center (2010); Rennie Museum, Vancouver (2009); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2005). Hatoum participated in documenta 14 and documenta 11 (2017 and 2002); and in the biennials of Moscow (2013), Liverpool (2012), Istanbul (2011 and 1995) and Venice (2005 and 1995), among others.

Discourse Program

Saturday, October 29, 2022

Critical Distance. Body Politics and Displacement in the Work of Mona Hatoum

Symposium with Marius Babias (Director Neuer Berliner Kunstverein), Sam Bardaouil (Director Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin), Kathrin Becker (Artistic Director KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art), Tamar Garb (Durning Lawrence Professor in the History of Art, University College London), Natasha Ginwala (Associate Curator Gropius Bau, Berlin), Mona Hatoum (Artist, London), Polly Staple (Curator and Director of Collection, British Art, Tate, London)

In English

Venue: KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Maschinenhaus M0

Free admission

Publication

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne, edited by Marius Babias, Kathrin Becker and Julia Wallner