Mona Hatoum

Hatoum’s image is based on the controversial Peters projection of the world which attempts to present land masses in true proportion to the area they occupy. (Every translation of the globe to a flat map contains distortions.) Notable for calling attention to the social implications of mapmaking, it suited Hatoum who as a child of Palestinians living in exile is acutely aware of the politics of borders. In her piece, land masses are fissures in the handmade paper drawn by the map-shaped watermark in a papermaking mold. As the outcome cannot be precisely controlled when the mold is dipped into the vat of liquid paper pulp, the process is an apt metaphor for the instability of borders.