A Subjective Atlas is an collaborative art-research publication in which a country is creatively mapped by its inhabitants. Durham geographers and historians are developing the Subjective Atlas of Ukraine in collaboration with environmental, artistic, and cultural organisations.
Principal Investigator:
Dr Jonathon Turnbull, GeographyJonathon.j.turnbull@durham.ac.uk
Term:
tbc
This project incorporates perspectives from human geography on historical memory, mental maps, and the recovery of Ukraine. It enriches DU's engagement with Ukraine by incorporating new Ukrainian partners within the University, cultural and artistic organisations, and NGOs.
A Subjective Atlas is an interdisciplinary and collaborative art-research publication in which a country, region, or city is creatively mapped by its inhabitants. A team of Durham geographers and historians are developing the Subjective Atlas of Ukraine in collaboration with Ukrainian environmental, artistic, and cultural organisations and communities. The project is underpinned by a participatory counter-mapping methodology pioneered by Subjective Editions, the Belgium-based design studio led by Annelys de Vet.
The Subjective Atlas of Ukraine challenges hegemonic, top-down, and imperialistic understandings of Ukraine by broadening perceptions of the country locally and abroad through a focus on Ukrainian diversity, marginalised perspectives, and everyday experience. The art-based, community-focused methodology seeks to support societal conversations about what Ukrainian society looks like and what the future of that society can be at a time when Ukrainian-ness is under attack by Russia on a daily basis. It will provide a situated snapshot of a country undergoing intense transformation, countering the top-down, satellite-view images that have come to pervade militarised representations of Ukraine in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
This IAS RDP supports a workshop which will bring together Subjective Editions, the Durham Centre for the Study of Ukraine, and the Atlas editors to develop the conceptual framework, plan participatory workshop themes, and develop funding applications. By incorporating perspectives from human geography, the project furthers engagement with Ukraine within the IAS major project ‘Looking Back To Move Forward’.
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