Introducing the Studies in Remoteness

The Studies in Remoteness is a study circle framed within the Nordic Summer University, set to begin in January 2026 and ending in 2028. We’ll meet twice yearly, for a Winter and a Summer Session (the latter being integrated in the annual gathering of all circles in the Nordic Summer University).

Studies in Remoteness deals with the ingrained notion of “far away places” – be it the regional peripheries or cartographic borderlands between nation states; the residential areas of indigenous/minority communities; historical testimonies and lacunae; the sub-cultural meeting spots or your neighbour’s kitchen… With lingering attention, our studies intend to reset conditions of neglect and exoticism – unfolding the histories, topographies and epistemologies of such places “far away”.

Based in the Nordics, the Studies in Remoteness study circle will keep the circumpolar Arctic as a recurring theme – while actively inviting the perspectives of de-colonial thought and indigenous research from all continents, as well as practices grounded in feminist, queer and artistic approaches.

The Studies in Remoteness will be co-coordinated by Dr. Lindsey Drury of the Freie Universität in Berlin, and myself, Helena Hildur W. – in collaboration with (among others) Dr. Shiluinla Jamir, poet/writer/theologian Tinka Harvard, and PhD student Essi Nuutinen, as well as current and former board members of the Nordic Summer University.

We warmly welcome scholars, students, artists and activists to engage with us in exploring the potentials of Remoteness!

Contacts
lindsey.drury[at]fu-berlin.de
helenahildur[at]gmail.com

Studies in Remoteness study plan

Winter Session 2026
Topic: Duplicity / Duplicität: Betwixt Intimates and Strangers
January 29–31, 2026 – Institut für Theaterwissenschaft, Freie Universität Berlin
This opening session explores the two-sided, the between spaces, the self-conflicted, and the epistemic ambiguity and multiplicity that emerge from these. Engaging with voices and worldviews often marginalized or erased in dominant knowledge systems, we will examine what it means to be situated (perhaps conflictedly) between radically different identities, geographies, and epistemologies.

Summer Session 2026
Topic: Intimate engagement with historical remoteness
July 2026 – Latvia, venue TBA (NSU Summer Session)
Set within the Baltic context, this session considers the emotional and material legacies of remoteness as lived through history. We will explore how historical displacements, erasures, and distances are felt and remembered in intimate ways, drawing on personal and collective memory. This gathering invites an affective turn in the study of remoteness, focusing on its textures, rhythms, and deep temporal resonances.

Winter Session 2027
Topic: Circumpolar Remoteness
March 2027 – Stockholm, Sweden
This event focuses on Arctic and subarctic contexts. We will draw on Indigenous scholarship and critiques of extractive colonialism to unpack the geopolitical, environmental, and cultural dimensions of northern remoteness. The session aims to build translocal solidarities by linking Arctic struggles with broader conversations on colonial geography.

Summer Session 2027
Topic: Infrastructures of Remoteness
July 2027 – Nordics, venue TBA (NSU Summer Session)
This session investigates the built and bureaucratic structures that create, sustain, or “overcome” remoteness. From roads and cables to administrative systems and zoning laws, infrastructures mediate experiences of distance, disconnection, and neglect. Participants will analyze how these material forms shape spatial hierarchies and consider what decolonial or alternative infrastructures might look like.

Winter Session 2028
Topic: Sacredness and protection
(early) April 2028 – venue TBA
This session examines the entanglements between remoteness, sacredness, and practices of protection, asking what is being protected, by whom, and to what ends. While sacredness can offer a vital language of resistance and refuge – protecting landscapes, cultural sites, and spiritual traditions from commodification and harm – it also risks being mobilized in the service of exclusionary and securitized nationalisms. In the Nordic/Baltic context, where histories of occupation, resistance, and identity are deeply tied to land and place, we will critically assess how appeals to the sacred may be co-opted into ethnonationalist narratives that frame cultural heritage as a bordered asset under threat. Participants will explore how protection can drift into securitization, where remoteness becomes less a zone of care and more a frontier to be policed. The session encourages nuanced discussion on how to differentiate between emancipatory and repressive forms of protection – and how the sacred might be reclaimed without being enclosed by nationalism.

Summer Session 2028
Topic: Being Lost
July 2028 – Baltics, venue TBA (NSU Summer Session)
This gathering embraces the affective and existential dimensions of being lost – physically, conceptually, or temporally. We will consider how disorientation can unsettle fixed understandings of place and self, opening up space for new orientations. “Being lost” will be treated not as failure, but as a method for inquiry, reflection, and resistance.

Read more and follow the project:
Studies in Remoteness

Featured image (above): Senator Lisa Murkowski visiting the Faroe islands, 2019
Attribution: United States Senate – Office of Lisa Murkowski, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Below: an Usambara violet (Streptocarpus ionanthus), a species classified as “near-threatened” in its native habitat – the Tanzanian Usambara (Dughulushi) mountain range, where cloud forests are today increasingly being cut down in order to give way to extended agriculture. Collected in the 19th century by British and German colonizers, further examined and propagated in Europe, the Usambara violets now survive largely as pot plants on narrow window sills around the world.

Mapping Praxis Working Remotenesses II

art, recent work

What, then, will I bring from the Nordic Summer University’s gathering in Jyväskylä? I remember calm sauna evenings in the soft darkness of late July, as well as the vivid democratic process that maintains the Nordic Summer University and defines its upcoming activities… From visiting ongoing study circles I recall the mapping of conflicting interests in Belarusian and Lithuanian places of heritage; the re-imagining of time from a queer perspective; the enactment of a Parliament of Things, on the hot topic of in vitro fertilisation in Poland… to mention just a few highlights.

And, above all, I bring the experience of a teamwork that fulfilled its purpose of co-planning the concept for a new three-year circle. During the week-long gathering, our proposal for Studies in Remoteness was presented, discussed and approved by the NSU board, and confirmed by the General Assembly of NSU members. Planning is now underway – but this, I feel, deserves a separate post. I left Jyväskylä feeling deeply grateful for this new opening.

Mapping Praxis Working Remotenesses I

art, recent work

While the Praxis of Social Imaginaries study circle was coming to an end in 2025, its continuation took form during the recent NSU Summer Session – this year gathering not far from the city of Jyväskylä in the Lake District of central Finland. Leaving Stockholm on Sunday evening, July 20th…

Stockholm – Åbo/Turku – Jyväskylä – Korpilahti

…I reached the Alkio-Opisto folk high school in Korpilahti after 20 hours of travel. The staff people were welcoming and helpful, it was good to meet friends and colleagues old and new, and delightful to have a swim in the nearby lake – immersing oneself in its summer-warm, velvety body of water.

Tuesday morning began with scheduled work in the nine established study circles of the Nordic Summer University; the tenth group being our working team. On Tuesday afternoon, we presented our draft for a coming three-year cycle of Studies in Remoteness for community review. The proposal got substantial feedback, which we continued working on during the following days. A few of us were attending on-site in Korpilahti, others could join in digitally when needed. Those of us present also had time to visit some of the other study circles – among them Circle 1, Places of Heritage and Circle 7, Meta-Perspectives on Climate Change Knowledge; later also the circles on Critical Theory, Queer Materialism and Feminist Theory. In each circle, urgent topics were presented and processed in various productive ways; these visits were thought-provoking, not least in trying to understand how our future study circle could add constructive perspectives and relevant methodologies to the Nordic Summer University as a whole.

The Remoteness team was assigned a workplace located at a corridor’s end, beyond the pool table and the soda machine. Having passed a row of portraits of stern-looking men, we opened the door to a neat classroom, containing pot-flowers as well as an exercise bike, a row of large windows, an interesting document hanging in a frame on the back wall…

Entering the ‘Studies in Remoteness’ workplace.
A translation of the text above the tiny photos in the framed picture would be
“First Parliament of the Finnish people, 1907 Disbanded on April 6th 1908”;
an impressive number of women were present (I can spot at least five in the close-up).

… and lo! a world map. After spending the past two-and-a-half years with mappings of various kinds, I cannot un-see the colonial implications of a North-above, Europe-centered map. Having improvised a large table in the middle of the room, I could lay down the map horizontally – still Europe-centered, but at least accessible from all sides. This position invited a more playful approach… A handful of tiny pebbles did the rest.

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Playing with pebbles on a world map – shifting perspectives, from Nagaland (India) via Berlin, Oslo and Stockholm (Europe) to New York (USA); these are places where the ‘Remoteness’ team members are currently based.

Mapping Praxis IX: In Process

art, recent work

Since March, I’m working in parallel with two or three different mappings. Here some sketchwork pictures:

March 29th; sitting outdoors during a partial solar eclipse, manufacturing a cardboard maquette for a three-dimensional map. Half a yellow sun then found its way to one of the sidepieces.

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April: following the maquette study, the real construction began. Parts of an old door with flaking paint provided the material. A mountain with a house on top was fitted into the chest, and a vaulted papier maché lid added.

Then, painting. There should be a flower pattern on the doors – a hibiscus would make sense. I tried copying a design from a printed textile by Wax Mama.

Design (detail) by Wax Mama ®

Hibiscus Archeri (illustration from The Garden, weekly journal of horticulture, 1899); source Wikimedia Commons

Also, the ocean surrounding all continents had to be visualized inside the chest.
May came and went. Inbetween the construction steps of the chest, I tried to figure out how to best turn an emergency blanket into a mirror – for the making of another, embroidered map…

…before returning to the world inside the chest. Now summer is in full bloom, and this one is nearing completion… More to come.

Praxis of Social Imaginaries, Winter Session 2025

art, recent work, time-out

On March 5th to 9th, the Praxis circle gathered for another Winter Session – the last one within this three year cycle. Once more, we were hosted by the Sigtuna Foundation; a center for culture, research and education, with roots in the Christian ecumenical movement of the early 20th century. The Foundation resides in a cluster of monastery-like buildings, situated among pine trees on a hillside in the mediaeval city of Sigtuna (Sweden)… a venue quite congruent with the texts we were reading. And the book was A Description of the Northern Peoples, written by Olaus Magnus – the last Catholic archbishop of Sweden – during his exile in Rome, and published in 1555.

Woodcut from Olaus Magnus’ ‘A Description…’ showing a party of Scricfinnias hunting on ski;
artist unknown, image source Wikimedia Commons

The book consists of a very large number of short chapters, covering topics such as The Five Languages of the Northern Kingdoms, On Preventing Filthy Ditties and Of the Sea-Magicians. The text was approached from various perspectives (as usual within the Praxis study circle) and further processed through workshops in writing, drawing and listening. A chapter on sword and fire dances generated an improvised solo dance by Dr. Laura Hellsten; and the mediaeval Festivals of Greenery were discussed and enacted while enjoying the first sunny day of spring. In present time, Ramadan had begun and a handful of the participants were observing the lent during daylight. Luckily, dinners were served after sunset, and we could all share plentiful, tasty meals in the dining hall… as the new moon was quietly waxing.

Woodcut from Olaus Magnus’ ‘A Description…’ showing a ship running aground after being misled by a fire on the shore,
and men of the Finnmark attacking the supposed pirates onboard with stones in their hands.;
artist unknown, image source Wikimedia Commons

Olaus Magnus’ original text was accompanied by woodcuts, made under supervision of the author himself especially for this first edition; an unusual feature that most probably contributed to make the book a success. As can be seen, the scenes were abundant with vivid detail… About one hundred of these pictures actually originate from an earlier publication of Olaus Magnus: the Carta Marina. Printed in Venice in 1539 – after twelve years of work – it is in itself a rich description of places, creatures and people; an almost overwhelming compilation of material provided from memory by the banished archbishop. This map provided the starting point of a session on Magic, facilitated by Dr. Lindsey Drury, where we connected events described in the book with the actual places on the map – and, again, with our own experiences of traditions and histories handed down over generations…

Olaus Magnus’ Carta Marina, printed in Venice (1539) and later hand-coloured;
artist unknown, image source Wikimedia Commons

My own contribution followed shortly after this session, and included a listening exercise borrowed from Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening scores; a silent walk along the hillside groves; and providing handmade booklets for making personal notes while finding one’s way back to the Foundation. The idea was to turn from an analytical mode, into attention in the present – shifting from the realm of the scholar (Olaus Magnus) in order to approach the mindset of a person closer to weather, shifts of light and temperature, and other-than-human life…

(In fact, I believe that the indigenous “magic” perceived by foreigners may – more often than not? – be the result of close attention paired with traditional knowledge.)

Spirit Land performed by Nina Nordvall Vahlberg, Emma Göransson, Olli Liljeström, Carolina Bjon, Minna Hokka, Marianne Maans, Kari Mäkiranta and Frank Berger

In the next-to-final day of the Winter Session, the Praxis circle was invited to take part of Vuoiŋŋalaš Eanadat / Spirit Land, an artistic collaboration between two of our co-participants: textile artist / artistic researcher Emma Göransson and composer / musician Frank Berger. The performance also included a number of musicians from Finland and Sàpmi, and was open to the public as a part of Sigtuna Foundation’s cultural program.

The auditorium was crowded, and the afternoon sun gently spread its light through the textiles as music and jojk began to fill the air. For two years, Emma and Frank have been working towards this performance – and now was the moment! Colours, textures and sound intertwined, invoking the visible and invisible landscapes of the North. In Emma’s own words: “The three cosmological spheres in traditional Sami mythology – Jabbmeájjmo/Underworld, Eana/Earth, and Albmi/Heaven – are represented by monumental weavings, here set to music. The voices of the landscapes are heard anew, restored and brought to life, but changed.”

Afterwards, Dr. Hellsten moderated a talk between Frank, Emma, and Dr. Shiluinla Jamir – another valued member of the Praxis circle, who graciously added the perspective of a person from the indigenous Naga people of Northeast India. Listening to Frank’s music, and the jojks of Emma and Nina Nordvall Vahlberg; watching the delicate weavings floating in light; and following the exchange of indigenous experiences… were some of the memorable moments of hope and beauty that will stay with me.

Art’s Birthday Rebirth: Soundtower Growing Roots

art, recent work, upcoming

Being part of the Ljudtornet (Soundtower) sound/art platform has been inspiring, joyful and rewarding in so many ways… From the beginning in 2018, we have realized six ANTENN festivals in the old Watertower of Gnesta (engaging almost a hundred Swedish and international sound artists, musicians, filmmakers, and other exhibitors/performers); we have made web radio broadcasts reaching listeners globally; and since 2020, we have celebrated Art’s Birthday on the 17th of January by making original sound/art installations.

220116 Art's Birthday 2022 in Watertower

From the Watertower into the forest; photo HHW.

When the local municipality decided to lock the watertower permanently in 2023, the Soundtower staged a mourning march and farewell ceremony. We lost a homeplace, but the spirit stayed with us; we kept on collaborating, in various constellations, and kept in touch. In November 2024, some of us took part in a manifestation for Ulvaskogen/Wolves’ Wood – a local forest, threatened by brutal logging. From this event, a seminal thought began to grow… and on Art’s Birthday 2025, the seedling reached the light.

The Soundtower is growing new roots…

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“The Light in Wolves’ Wood” event, Nov. 17th, 2024;
contributions by Soundtower artists Julia Adzuki, Patrick Dallard, Tomas Björkdal, Rolf Schuurmans, Helena Hildur W, the Ministry for Environmental Grief;
photos by Eliot Freed

Mapping Futures @ AboAgora II

art, recent work

Mars, the God of War, is pictured as a potent bringer of violence and destruction. Many among us have also experienced the actual pains and traumas of migration, displacement and escape from unbearable circumstances…

Still, there will always be futures beyond warfare.

How do we understand our true needs – and how can they be fulfilled in times of turmoil?
Which values are worth building a future upon?
How could new paths be found, when old ways are lost?

Mapping Futures invites participants to reflect, to share experiences, and to co-create around this theme. We’ll use map-making as a working format, along with movement and listening. And – since play is a very serious business – the workshop will stay open for playfulness, too.

Such was the presentation of Mapping Futures, as it appeared in the programme of AboAgora 2024. I learned that sixteen participants had signed up in advance – a full group. The actual workshop was scheduled on the third and last day – Friday, August 30th – and the plan was to have it outdoors, in the museum’s garden, to connect with nature as well as with the surrounding cityscape… Unfortunately, according to the weather forecast, the floating fluffy morning skies were likely to turn into heavy winds, thunder and rainfall by noon. Project coordinator Petra and I had to take a decision about the locale, and quickly agreed to move all the material inside. An hour later, 40 kilograms of sand was carried indoors along with the hexagon boards, and the “beach” was prepared – complete with pebbles and seashells, bottle caps and plastic rubble, bird feathers and other tiny items (all brought from Sweden in my suitcase).

By 10am, a few light clouds occasionally dimmed the warm sunlight. The group of participants gathered in the shadow of the huge oak tree, once planted by Linnaean adept Pehr Kalm – a tree that has survived fire and ice, war and unrest for more than 250 years… After two full days of artistic and scientific perspectives on martial machineries, this seemed to be a good point of departure for a workshop focusing on resilience.

left and right: Pehr Kalm’s oak;
middle: the group assembling, photo credit: Pekko Vasantola

Before leaving, each one of us took a moment to visualize a Stunde Null, such as it might appear in some place familiar: in our home or workplace, in the streets or paths we use to walk… A Ground Zero not only for humans, but for all structures and living organisms. Bearing this image in mind, we set out for a silent walk to the cobbled square by the cathedral.

Silent moments, photo credit: Pekko Vasantola

Ten minutes went by there, as we quietly stayed with our personal thoughts and feelings; then we gathered again to return to the museum.

In the Zero Hour, what remains for the ones alive – emotions, trauma, weariness? Hope, despair?
And hard work; hours, days, years of toil and labour.
What, then, would remain to build upon? What structures and materials? Which relations? Which values?

On walking back, the participants were invited to share with each other, and also to keep an outlook for objects that could serve as tokens and symbols in the map-making. The sky was already darkening as we entered the museum. The smaller groups, which began to form during the short walk, now clustered around the boards. This was a crucial moment to me; how would these highly qualified individuals feel about playing together, using pebbles and pinecones like little kids in days long gone? and moreover, around such a challenging theme?

above and below: hands-on work and extended connections;
photo credit: Pekko Vasantola

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It turned out that there was no need for worries. The groups immediately began projecting their ideas: honouring the dead and caring for the living, constructing shelters and community facilities, preparing the soil for sowing… Plastic waste created problems in some places, while forests, domestic animals, music and insects were generally cherished. In one of the maps, plastic caps were opened up and distributed to represent receptivity, tolerance, and understanding; in another, a grey feather, planted upright, proudly signalled the rejection of black-and-white thinking.

Heart-shaped artwork by Jan Erik Andersson in Pehr Kalm’s garden outside the museum,
and mapped futures by workshop participants inside

One hour and a half passed quickly, but there was still time to share some concluding reflections while the wind slowly dropped and the sky grew clearer. Later in the afternoon, the crafted futures were collected and brought back to where they belonged: non-organic waste to the recycling systems, and the leaves, lichen, feathers, and butterfly wings to the rain wet ground under a rose bush.

I wish to thank all participants, who played along so wholeheartedly, and the staff members of AboAgora 2024 and the Sibelius museum, who welcomed and supported Mapping Futures; and thanks also to all who took part in Mapping on the Beach in 2023, and Alina Kalachova, with whom I developed the original concept.

Mapping Futures @ AboAgora I

art, recent work

Much of the contemporary artist’s work consists of writing applications to institutional funding partners. Not always do these efforts bear fruit… but last February, I got an affirmative email from the curating committee of AboAgora, the annual event that invites people engaged in arts and sciences to meet in the city of Turku. The encouraging message was that they had accepted my proposal, and I was welcome to conduct a workshop at the upcoming symposium in August. My intention was then to remodel and develop last year’s Mapping on the Beach in Palanga – and my obvious challenge was how to bring a stretch of sandy beach into the Sibelius museum, venue of AboAgora?

After a lot of emailing back and forth with the organizers, I decided to craft ‘gameboards’ with wooden strips along the edges, so that they could hold at least a moderate amount of sand… Gluing all those strips took some sunny summer days, but in the end there were seven boards ready to roll, and we set off for Turku.

Crafting boards from surplus material and crossing the Baltic sea towards a rising sun

Arriving early in the morning of August 28th, I found my way to the Sibelius museum – a stunning piece of architecture designed by architect Woldemar Baeckman, inaugurated in 1968. The AboAgora, in its turn, is a resourceful collaboration between the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, the Arts Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences, Åbo Akademi University Foundation and Turku University Foundation…

Concrete impressions from the Sibelius museum

In this distinguished context, I couldn’t help but feeling a bit odd, unpacking the curious bundle of wooden hexagons from its plastic wrappings and collecting the bags of sand that had kindly been acquired by the project staff; dear researcher/coordinator Petra Piiroinen, here’s a shout-out to you – you’re a true professional, and a very delightful person, too!

Unwrapping workshop material in the museum’s atrium

The AboAgora 2024 program marks the beginning of a new thematic cycle, The Planets (referring to the orchestral suite of the same name by composer Gustav Holst). Spanning over seven years in total, this first event was dedicated to Mars, the Bringer of War. A challenging subject, indeed – but I can’t think of a better way to approach the theme than the opening panel session, dealing with the environmental impacts of war and post-war recovery. The lectures and talk by panelists Timo Vuorisalo, Emma Hakala and Ruslan Gunko turned out to be a powerful call to well-informed action, referring to past wars in the Balkans as well as the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.

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PhD researcher Ruslan Gunko lecturing on environmental and human resilience in present-day Ukraine

Other highlights from the first days of AboAgora was the panel session on A De/Colonial Present, where researchers and PhD students – with roots in Finland, Palestine, Sàpmi, Botswana and Kanaky – reflected on the legacies of colonialism as a driving factor in today’s conflicts; their viewpoints carried further in a lecture and discussion with professor Koen De Feyter, a long-time champion of human rights in public international law. And, not to forget, the Extended Reality installation by Love Antell at the site of Ismo Kajander’s subtle monument, conceived in 1994 and commemorating local events during the Finnish Civil War in 1918; later that evening followed by a lecture on academic activism by physicist Syksy Räsänen.

above: XR work by Love Antell around Ismo Kajander’s memorial for victims of the Finnish Civil War;
all photos here by Pekko Vasantola
below: Syksy Räsänen on Truth, Love, Sense and Nonsense in science and activism

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What about Mapping Futures, then? Well, it didn’t take place until the third and final day of Aboagora 2024…

Mapping Praxis VII: Maps and Legends

art, recent work

The Praxis study circle continues to inspire and inform my work with Mapping Praxis. By now, we’ve read a sequence of books from the 12th to the 16th centuries; texts that have mirrored and shaped the beginnings of modern-times’ colonialism. During the same period of time, a rapid development of mapping techniques took place, providing tools for the subjugation of non-European cultures and the following extraction of resources.

Guillaume le Testu’s 16th century map of Brazil (featured in the previous blogpost) pictures an archaic landscape where dragons dwell together with monkeys and other animals, and naked men are all at war with each other – sometimes molesting helpless victims, dismembering and burning them alive; a representation of indigenous peoples as blood-thirsty pre-humans in a paradise turned hell. There’s only one person sporting a dress (perhaps made from leaf foliage, following the example of Adam and Eve). She is the only woman depicted, and she also carries a crucifix as she strides confidently towards a naked, but seemingly grateful man… On the same map, the arrival of Europeans is marked by a ship with billowing sails at sea, and shining cities adorned with pennants along the coast. In reality, it was the Europeans wreaking havoc and committing genocide in the Americas as well as in Africa; le Testu’s visualization can be seen as pure and unashamed propaganda – a kind of pre-digital deepfake.

Today, the strive towards decolonialisation has sparked initiatives of counter-mapping / counter-cartography, in science and activism as well as in art.

Two maps from ‘Indigenous Cartography in Acre. Influencing Public Policy in Brazil’ (via This Is Not An Atlas)

These are two contemporary maps from Brazil – part of the outstanding collection of counter-mappings known as This Is Not An Atlas by German kollektiv Orangotango. They are illustrations from a project by the organization Comissão Pró-Índio do Acre (the Pro-Indian Commission of Acre), which has been working since 1979 to support indigenous communities in the state of Acre. In contrast to a colonizer’s map, these ‘ethnomaps’ are tools for de-colonializing the mind as well as the land.

The ethnomaps made by indigenous communities are important planning tools for the protection, conservation and
management of natural resources. They fill the void of information found on official maps. They also expose
opinions, ideas and aesthetic preferences. Furthermore, they are a powerful tool that can be used for various
political purposes. The maps are also powerful tools to fight for certain claims. The production of ethnomaps
creates the possibility for indigenous peoples to build their knowledge and values on the Indian’s relationship with
‘the other’, thus contributing to the formulation of a future strategy by enabling non-indigenous people to
understand the processes of occupation of geographical space. It also sheds light on social interdependencies
within the economic, political and ecological contemporary world. In this case, the cartographic knowledge of and
for indigenous peoples can be an important advocacy tool within the territory and the cultural and intellectual
heritage it depicts.

Renato Gavazzi, Indigenous Cartography in Acre. Influencing Public Policy in Brazil

There’s a lot more to gather from the website of This Is Not An Atlas; especially, I’ve looked into The Counter Cartographies of Exile, a community project which took place in Grenoble (France) in 2013. It brought together thirteen asylum seekers, two geographers and three artists, using multi-disciplinary methodologies to bridge the divide between immediate experience and communicative skills. Starting out from the intention to open a creative space of hospitality, and to breach some cartographic norms of migratory representation, the project evolved over time. In the end, the maps came across as ‘trajectories of memory’ – neither true, nor false.

‘From Afghanistan to France; The Counter Cartographies of Exile’ (via This Is Not An Atlas)

From Afghanistan to France
The map presented here […] sketches a trail of exile from Afghanistan to France. It was created
by H.S*, who was seeking asylum in France when we met.
[…]
The map’s zenithal view makes it possible to understand the places and the distances involved at a glance, but it is
not the only perspective that is presented. The map is also drawn from ground level, using the path pursued, and
from inside the trailer behind a truck. In the frontal view, the mountains around Afghanistan and Iran break with
the zenithal perspective, and so do cars, trucks, boats and an individual on the road. Returning to ground level, one
perceives the space as a landscape of displacement for H.S., who represents himself in his work. This map blurs the
dichotomy between the map as a grid and as a route.
[…]
This map of exile is not the creation of a totalizing eye; it is also seen from below, from the walking point of view
and the multiple practices and tactics used to cross geopolitical borders. In this sense, From Afghanistan to France subverts the conventional and normative maps of migrations and nation states.
[…]
In addition, From Afghanistan to France is not only a cognitive or mental mapping. In order to read the map, it is
necessary to read the map legend (see map at the end of the article). Here the diﬀerent symbols do not represent
rivers or settlements; instead, they symbolise the fear, danger, police, injustice, friendship, love… encountered en
route.

*The use of the initials has been decided by the person itself.

Counter Cartographies of Exile

The last section of this quote highlights the use of map legends (keys) as a visual meta-level; a means to clarify the context, the values and priorities of the mapper. This is something that I bring into the Mapping Praxis project – which also, by the way, is a process evolving through continued dialogue, deepening over time.

Assorted small objects; Mapping Praxis resources, work in progress