Truth In Memory
Mona Hatoum, ‘T42 (gold)’ 1999. Courtesy of the artist. From the Fournie Collection.
This text is critical commentary on the juxtaposition of memory and truth in the context of four artists from The Dubai Collection: Mona Hatoum, Maha Mullah, Marwan Sahmarani and Mohammed Kazem.
Memory, often shaped by nostalgia, trauma, and loss, can distort or idealize the past, while truth, bound by its quest for factuality, may resist the emotional weight of recollection. In the liminal space where personal narratives and collective histories converge and diverge, artists often explore the blurred lines between truth and memory. This piece explores how four artists from the Dubai Collection portray human existence through the lens of social norms, intangible experiences and history within the context of individual and collective memories.
Mona Hatoum’s T42 (gold) (1999) is a sculpture of a pair of teacups fused at their bases and coated in gold. The title - a play on the phonetic pun ‘tea for two’ – and the object itself asks us to question the conventions of social rituals and the dynamics of togetherness. The teacup, a small familiar object, suggests hospitality and the intimate experience of a shared encounter, yet these two cups are conjoined in an enforced togetherness, casting a shadow on this potentially convivial meeting. Here, Hatoum masterfully commandeers a seemingly innocent item and transforms it into potent metaphor for the fragility of relationships, social hierarchies, and cultural intersections. Born in Beirut to Palestinian family, Hatoum’s work frequently engages with themes of displacement, identity, and conflict, reflecting her own experiences as a Palestinian in exile. The cups, while appearing harmonious, are in fact bound together in a manner that denies their individual functionality. Perhaps the teacups’ imposed unity alludes to the forced cohabitation of cultures and peoples under colonial or imperial systems. In this simple gesture, Hatoum, quite brilliantly questions the reality of the stories of history and what lies underneath the sometimes shiny or golden veneer of narratives of the past.
Another artist who investigates our relationship with objects is Maha Mullah. Her practice, usually couched within the context of her native Saudi Arabia, examines the impacts and transformations of consumerism upon society. Unveiled (2010), is a photogram of children’s kitchen utensils with their colours inverted by the artistic technique of using a lightbox on photosensitive paper. Mullah’s practice continually employs domestic objects to address gender issues and the role of women in her society. Here, the poignancy in these small items, used and then discarded as the brevity of childhood quickly passes, points at a nostalgia for times gone by. It could also highlight the overlooked role of motherhood or family building. There is also a playful nature to the piece so that these utensils serve as a record for what once was but also, in their strangeness, capture the attention of the viewer, allowing their memories to flood their reading of the piece and engage in the ephemerality and the permanence of these commonplace items.
Maha Mullah, Unveiled, Photogram; lambda print mounted on acid free board, 2010, 125 x 160 cm. Jamil Hallak Collection.
These three artists use material that is in front of us but is often unnoticed to explore how memory shapes our understanding of our place in the world. It is interesting to consider them against the expressionist and abstract paintings of Marwan Sahmarani. Sahmarani delves into the visceral and emotive aspects of memory through his dynamic and expressive paintings - characterised by gestural brushwork and vivid colour palettes. His works are intense and frequently explore themes of war, displacement, and the chaos of the human condition, reflecting his experiences as a Lebanese artist.
Marwan Sahmarani, Guns and Tricks, acrylic on canvas, 2022, 120 x150 x 3 cm. Caroline and Kais Ben Hamida Art Collection.
Whilst not an obvious artist to compare to the more meticulous and detailed practices of the other artists in this commentary, Sahmarani’s approach to history is to abstract the figures from their specified places and times and obscure their individual identities with the weight of raw emotion. For Sahmarani, memory is a site of conflict and truth is turbulent or fraught. His paintings deconstruct where an artist like Kazem constructs; his paintings are forceful and bold where Mullah’s or Hatoum’s are quiet but all use memory to investigate the fluid nature of the human experience.
Just as the cups of Hatoum’s T42 or the stains from Kazem’s Kisses are joined in a way that removes their individuality, Sahmarani’s paintings interrogate the complexities of coexistence. Hatoum and Mullah use benign kitchen utensils, Kazem and Sahmarani use gestural movements, but they all exhibit work that serves as a reminder that what appears beautiful or harmonious on the surface may conceal deeper contradictions and conflicts.
By using memory and the intangibility of truth and reality, these artists create works that are deeply layered, introspective, and thought-provoking, reflecting the complexity of human life and inviting audiences to engage with often unresolved questions of existence. In today’s world, where reality is not experienced universally but is filtered through individual perceptions shaped by culture, memory, and emotion, we rely upon artists to produce work that questions established narratives, exposes biases, and asks us to reconsider our assumptions about what is true.