Subjective mapping of the EU, from an Estonian point of view
Autumn 2003
In 2003 the EU had extended to 25 members — and most people needed needed a cheat sheet to name all countries. Hardly anyone had read the full ‘acquis communautaire’, 80.000 pages of legislation. The EU is not a state with revolutionary origins but a compilation of different political, historical and cultural entities. The European Union is a concept based on networks and shared values. But every country, every city and each citizen has its own perception of this growing Union. In order to bring these visions together, to learn to know each other, in order to make the EU-concept work we need to share the different perspectives.We need to develop, visualise and exchange our thoughts.
Workshop at Estonian School of Arts (Tallinn, Estonia), by Annelys de Vet & Kristjan Mändmaa, 13–30 October 2003
Therefore Subjective Editions wanted to design, compilate and print a ‘Subjective Atlas of the European Union from an Estonian point of view’. On the invitation of Kristjan Mändmaa from the Estonian School of Arts, we challenged the graphic design students of Tallinn to map the EU, to visualise the differences, sizes, amounts and similarities that they observed from their position.
What started as a workshop turned out to become the start of a series of Subjective atlases….
Acknowledgements
This workshop and the printing of the atlas was supported by the Embassy for the Netherlands in Tallin.
Atlas,
paperback,
Write us if you are interested in a reprint!
English, 112 full-colour pages, 14.5 x 20,8 cm
e-atlas.
Other mappings
For a collaboration between the art schools Lasalle in Singapore and Sint Lucas in Antwerp, Subjective Editions started to imagine a Subjective atlas of Singapore; what does it mean to live in Singapore, and what can we learn from its inhabitants? Together they invited design students to visualize Singapore from their perspective, starting with a workshop in January 2020, and continued under the guidance of designer Syairah Malek towards a first digital publication shared on social media during summer 2020.
On the occasion of ‘Kaunas - European Capital of Culture 2022’ Subjective Editions has been invited to collaboratively map one eldership from inside out and capture cultural phenomena, measure the complexities and unveil the inhabitant’s treasures. During a local residency with 3 workshops at 3 locations in the neighbourhoods of the Garliava Eldership in Lithuania, creative inhabitants were invited to contribute their visual voices; in maps, infographics, photo series and other cartographic explorations. Collectively they showed what the eldership means at this moment of time.
What and who do we talk about when we speak of ‘Pakistan’ and the ‘Pakistani’ today? Subjective Editions and Pakistani artist and documentary maker Taqi Shaheen posed this question to more than sixty artists, designers, and other creative souls across Pakistan through a series of workshops and personal discussions. It invoked a new kind of thinking towards complex questions of identity through a criss-cross of unexpected alliances, conversational trajectories, and inspiring encounters. Together, with fresh perspectives, we set out to map the understanding of a country so often misunderstood.
On the invitation of theater director Alicja Borkowska we were invited to host a subjective mapping workshop at Strefa WolnoSłowa, a theater working with intercultural groups of migrants and refugees living in Poland. The workshop was part of a project for artists who get a three months training, and develop artistic projects in collaboration with the local community and migrant minorities. The training was led by different artists and Subjective Editions was invited to guide a two day training in mapping neighbourhoods and narratives.