15 Facts About Mona Hatoum

Mona Hatoum is a British-Palestinian multimedia and installation artist who lives in London.

Mona Hatoum was born in 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Palestinian parents.

Mona Hatoum continued to draw throughout her childhood, though, illustrating her work from poetry and science classes.

Mona Hatoum studied graphic design at Beirut University College in Lebanon for two years and then began working at an advertising agency.

Mona Hatoum stayed in London, training at both the Byam Shaw School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art between the years 1975 and 1981.

Mona Hatoum explores a variety of different subject matter via different theoretical frameworks.

The physical responses that Mona Hatoum desired to provoke psychological and emotional responses ensures unique and individual reactions from different viewers.

Mona Hatoum used this technique as a means of making a direct statement using her own body; the performances often referenced her background and the political situation in Palestine.

In other works, Mona Hatoum prefers to be more abstract and to leave the work open ended.

Mona Hatoum's practice has shifted towards site specificity in, for instance, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and Kunsthalle Hamburg.

The artwork of Mona Hatoum investigates the concept of the 'abjection' introduced by the cultural theorist, Julia Kristeva and the uncanny in her works using body hair.

Mona Hatoum has tied her works to other political movements, especially black struggle.

Mona Hatoum's work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston in 2015.

In March 2018, Mona Hatoum was shortlisted for the Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, alongside Michael Dean, Phillip Lai, Magali Reus and Cerith Wyn Evans.

In January 2020, Mona Hatoum was part of Artpace's exhibit titled Visibilities: Intrepid Women of Artpace.