Understanding Different Geographies (Workshop)

Following the successful workshop on Mapping Different Geography that took place in 2009, the University of Vienna is organizing another exciting workshop entitled understanding different geographies – Communicating Meaning with Geo[Graphic] Artifacts that will take place at Puchberg am Schneeberg, Austria from January 31^st till February 3^rd. The outcome of the 2009 workshop is an edited book that has been freshly released.

International Cartographic Conference – Paris 2011

The next International Cartographic Conference will be held in Paris in 2011 (July 3 to 8). The deadline for submitting proposal is approaching very fast: 4 October 2010. If you cannot submit a full refereed paper before this deadline, there is still the possibility to submit an abstract (400 to 550 words) for oral presentation or a poster. There will be a theme on Art, Culture and Cartography (T5), so you might want to consider  submitting your paper under this theme (See the call for papers for more details).

Beside paper sessions, the Arts and Cartography working group will be organizing different activities. A workshop in collaboration with the worksing group on Maps and Society will take place prior to the conference (this workshop may also include an art exhibit). An experimental walking tour with mixed groups of cartographers and Parisian artists will be organized to explore the invisible borders between the arrondissements of Paris (July 4 at 5 pm). We are also in the process of organizing a film screening, and another art and map exhibit has already been organized. Hope to see you in Paris next year.

Geotagger’s World Atlas by Eric Fisher

Eric Fisher makes great series of maps and post them on Flickr. My two favorite series are Race & ethnicity and his Geotaggers’ World Atlas maps showing areas photographed by toursits Vs. areas photographed by locals (The maps are ordered by the number of pictures taken in the central cluster of each one).

Challenge: Mapping The Big Apple

An original challenge organized by the Cartographers’ Guild, in partnership with the Soho Gallery for Digital Art, is currently taking place. The participants are asked to create up to three maps inspired by New York. This inspiration can be pretty loose, or very literal. The top 45 entries will be displayed in a gallery show in an art gallery in Soho, Manhattan from the 16th of November to the 12th of December. The deadline is the 31st of October. More details here.

Journeys beyond the neatline: expanding the boundaries of cartography

There is an intriguing exhibit at University of Alberta Libraries that runs until the end of August 2010: Journeys beyond the neatline: expanding the boundaries of cartography.

This exhibit presents 25 works of two University of Alberta affiliated artist/cartographers who have documented their personal journeys through text and maps. The title of the exhibit — Journeys beyond the neatline — reflects their personal journeys beyond the traditional boundaries of the printed map — the neatline. Both have made pilgrimages which traverse terrain and individual experience. But beyond that, theirs are unique experiences recorded in text and visual expressions as maps. Like the works themselves, this exhibition, exemplifying a growing intersection of art and cartography, also represents a step beyond the traditional map exhibit for the William C. Wonders Map Collection.

I have just received the catalogue of the exhibit. I went through it quickly: It looks like two cartographic travelogues. It is a very nicely designed book and I am looking forward to reading the stories of these two artists/cartographers.

Rethinking Anywhere Anytime

Rethinking Location Anytime Anywhere Everything :: until June 19, 2010 :: Sprüth Magers, Oranienburger Straße 18, D-10178 Berlin.

With works by Rosa Barba – Cyprien Gaillard – Andreas Hofer – Koo Jeong-A – David Maljkovic – Trevor Paglen – Christodoulos Panayiotou – Sterling Ruby – Paul Sietsema – Taryn Simon – Armando Andrade Tudela – Andro Wekua. Curated by Johannes Fricke Waldthausen.

Evolving from the work of twelve conceptual artists, filmmakers and photographers presenting alternate interpretations of fictional geographies, imaginary sites and ‘mash-up’ destinations, the exhibition Rethinking Location reconsiders the notion of location. In an era characterized by a rapidly changing perception of time and space due to ever increasing mobility, migration and globalisation, our understanding of what a location is has significantly transformed. Taking these changes for granted, the exhibition investigates how artists consider location and geography as source material for their work.

For more information go to http://turbulence.org/blog/2010/05/17/rethinking-location-anytime-anywhere-everything-berlin/

Art and cartography activities in London this spring

All kinds of very interesting activities happening in London from now until July 2010. If somebody is interested in sending us a report of these activities, we could certainly post it here.

‘Whose map is it?’ Exhibition of maps and mappings by international artists at Iniva in London

Crossing Boundaries: An Interdisciplinary Symposium (Royal Geographical Society) London, 2 June.

‘The Creative Compass’ (6 May to 2 July 2010) (Royal Geographical Society), London.