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Make Maps, Not War

  • 5a Bloomsbury Square London WC1A 2TA United Kingdom (map)

In the final event of the Cartography on the Frontline programme, we bring together a number of counter-mapping artists who have been working with groups from war torn countries. The panel will present and discuss the variety of media and methods used to explore experiences of displacement and resettlement, related to war and its aftermath.

PROGRAMME

Dispelling the Fog of War: Phil Cohen will look back on the Frontline Cartography series and draw out some of the key issues raised by contributors.

Unmaking the Map: Alisa Oleva and Debbie Kent will draw on recent work to discuss their arts based approach to counter-mapping

Every Dog is a Lion in its Own Home: Natalia Baryshovets will screen excerpts from a puppet workshop she ran with Ukrainian children in London and discuss some of the issues of working with this group.

Talking Maps and the Diasporic Experience: Jina Lee will present and discuss material from her mapping workshops with Korean immigrants and with diasporic communities in Manchester and London.

Seeking Refuge in the Folds of Maps: Sana Murrani will present and discuss fifteen maps based on her ongoing work with Iraqis still living inside Iraq who have been subjected to war and violence for decades now.


About the speakers

Natalia Baryshovets is from Ukraine. She is a children’s entertainer who works with many Ukrainian community organisations in London.

Phil Cohen is a co-founder of the Livingmaps Network and co-editor with Mike Duggan of New Directions in Radical Cartography (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019) . His latest book, Things Ain’t What They Used To Be: Notebooks from a Once and Future Time will be published by eyeglass books this month.

Debbie Kent is a member of the Livingmaps Network and a mapping artist who makes work around walking, sound and the city. She is half of a collaboration called the Demolition Project (with Alisa Oleva) which has made site-responsive walks and works for festivals and galleries in many cities around Europe and the UK .

Jina Lee is the director of the Livingmaps Network and a mapping artists whose work focuses on the collapse of territorial boundaries between social, political and geographical space. She recently completed a diasporic mapping project with young people in Manchester .

Alisa Oleva is the engagement curator at Pushkin House. Her artistic practice includes performance and audio walks exploring issues of urban choreography and archaeology as well as the city as a site of intimate encounter. He work has been shown in many galleries in Europe and the UK.

Sana Murrani is the founder of the Displacement Studies Research Network and co-founder of the Justice and Imagination in Global Displacement research collective. Sana is currently writing a book based on her research, to be published by Bloomsbury next year.


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