Divan Bed 1996

Curator: The artwork before us is Mona Hatoum's "Divan Bed," a substantial piece residing in the Tate collection. Editor: My first impression is…unsettling. It looks like a cross between a comforting bed and something industrial. Curator: Exactly. Hatoum often plays with familiar domestic objects, transforming them into something uncanny through changes in scale, material, or texture. This bed, for example, is made of steel. Editor: The diamond plate pattern amplifies that feeling. We associate that texture with factories, not relaxation. It evokes a sense of institutional coldness. Curator: Indeed. It speaks to the larger themes in Hatoum's work: displacement, the body, and the unsettling nature of familiar spaces in a world shaped by conflict and migration. Editor: And how objects in the public sphere subtly—or not so subtly—affect our sense of safety and belonging. Curator: Yes, it's a potent reminder that even the most mundane objects can carry complex cultural and political weight. Editor: I’ll never look at a bed the same way again.