Measures of Distance is an uncharacteristically autobiographical work which, Hatoum has said, speaks of displacement, disorientation and a tremendous sense of loss as a result of the separation caused by war. Hatoum was born to Palestinian parents living in exile in Beirut. In 1975, while visiting London, Hatoum herself became an exile; war broke out in Lebanon and Hatoum stayed in England. In this video, the artist overlaid footage of her mother with scrolling Arabic script—the text of letters Hatoum's mother wrote to her from Beirut, which the artist reads aloud in English. This sound track is interspersed with candid dialogues between mother and daughter.
Gallery label from 2013.