Collection
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Contemporary Art

Waiting is Forbidden

Mona Hatoum

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Mona Hatoum’s blue enamel sign reads “Waiting is forbidden” in English, though the Arabic may be more accurately translated as “No stopping and no loitering.” An ominous warning rather than a precise directive, the phrase evokes the surveillance of public spaces as well as the sense of dislocation experienced by refugees. Hatoum was displaced beginning in 1975, when she found herself stranded in London after the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. Since then, her work has questioned the meaning and modes of home, migration, and displacement.

Caption

Mona Hatoum (British and Palestinian, born 1952). Waiting is Forbidden, 2006. Enameled metal plaque, 11 13/16 x 15 3/4 in. (30 x 40 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchase gift of Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons and John and Barbara Vogelstein, 2008.31. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Waiting is Forbidden

Date

2006

Medium

Enameled metal plaque

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

11 13/16 x 15 3/4 in. (30 x 40 cm)

Credit Line

Purchase gift of Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons and John and Barbara Vogelstein

Accession Number

2008.31

Frequent Art Questions

  • Why in Arabic?

    Aha! Great question!
    Mona Hatoum is the artist, and she likes to point at the idea of the youth in Arab countries, who are caught between action and inaction because of the political climates in their countries. "Waiting Is Forbidden" can be taken to mean no loitering.
    Is she the photographer? Where are her pieces located?
    She is a Canadian-based sculptor an most of her pieces are exhibited in Canada. Interestingly the artist hired a traditional sign-maker to create the work in the same format as a traditional Cairo street sign, which often has the name of the street written in two languages.
    It's part of her series called "Cairo," where she also speaks about the immigrant journey, particularly for children and teenagers who stand between two different cultures.

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Artists and makers

Mona Hatoum

1 work in the collection