Mahtab Hussain

Please take a seat, 2025

Please Take a Seat – a contemporary reinterpretation of a Victorian park bench – is an exploration of representation, identity, and place. Developed by Mahtab Hussain in collaboration with The Line’s Youth Collective, the engraved prompt ‘Hello, let’s make a portrait together’ invites you to sit, reflect and use the bench as a prop to create your own portrait and share using #PortraitsOnTheLine. Scan the QR code by the bench for inspiration from the artist.

This interaction forms a growing, collaborative portrait of East London, created by residents and visitors to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, that returns the bench to its historic role in activating civic space.

The bench features selected motifs from the artist and the Youth Collective’s research into the local area including the Bow Bells, a Grey Heron and a microphone to represent Newham’s association with grime music. Digitally scanned portraits of the Youth Collective are cast on the back panel of the bench.

Mahtab Hussain was selected by the Youth Collective to develop this work. Please Take A Seat is the culmination of Visible / Invisible,, a collaborative project developed by The Line with London College of Fashion and National Portrait Gallery.

Supported by Freelands Foundation and Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund, funded by Westfield Stratford City and delivered by Foundation for Future London.

With thanks to Momart, Price & Myers and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Design and digital scanning by Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre.