Mona Hatoum
Roadworks
1985
Single-channel video (color, sound)
6’45’’
Sammlung Goetz, Media Art, Munich

A lively street scene in the London borough of Brixton in the mid-1980s: people hurry along the busy streets carrying full shopping bags as they pass shabby shops and stalls. Amid all this is a young woman dressed in black walks barefoot along the dingy sidewalk. Tied to her ankles is a pair of black Dr. Martens boots, which she drags behind her, step by step. Very few people notice the young woman; some stop in amazement, shaking their heads or making fun of her display. The action, in fact, is a performance by Mona Hatoum, which the artist staged as part of an exhibition project at the Brixton Art Gallery and which she documented on video. A working-class, residential area in south London, Brixton is characterized by its multicultural population. In the 1980s, there was racist police violence against its Black residents, which led to a riot. In her performance, Mona Hatoum refers to these political events: the Dr. Martens, which she dragged through the neighborhood’s streets, were traditionally worn by the British police. Like a dark shadow, the boots seem to follow the barefoot artist, who seems naked and vulnerable. The black, lace-up Dr. Martens boots were not only part of police officers’ uniforms but were also worn by punks and skinheads. In the context of this performance, the shoes embody a system of control, violence, and oppression against which the individual is defenseless.

In her video film Roadworks, Hatoum has condensed the 30-minute plus eponymous performance into a 6’45” cinematic collage that primarily focuses on the audience’s reaction. “I found myself in this rare situation of creating work, which although personal / autobiographical, had an immediate relevance to the community of people it was addressing”, remarked the artist. In 1995, Hatoum created a large-format photograph from a single shot of this performance.

Born to Palestinian parents in Beirut in 1952, Hatoum uses a multitude of different media in her poetic and political oeuvre, which includes works on paper, photographs and sculptures as well as performances and installations. Since 1975, she has lived in London, where she was on a short trip when the civil war broke out in Lebanon, preventing her from returning to her homeland.

Hatoum has participated in numerous important exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale (1995 and 2005) and the Documenta (2002 and 2017). Recent solo exhibitions include a major survey show (2015) organized by the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Tate Modern, London; KIASMA, Helsinki (2016); a US tour at the Menil Collection, Houston (2017); and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis (2018). In addition, she has received many prizes, including the Joan Miró Prize (2011), the 10th Hiroshima Art Prize (2017), and the Praemium Imperiale (2019).

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