This Is Not an Atlas: A Global Collection of Counter-Cartographies

by Kollektiv Orangotango+ (Editor)

This Is Not an Atlas gathers more than 40 counter-cartographies from all over the world. This collection shows how maps are created and transformed as a part of political struggle, for critical research or in art and education: from indigenous territories in the Amazon to the anti-eviction movement in San Francisco; from defending commons in Mexico to mapping refugee camps with balloons in Lebanon; from slums in Nairobi to squats in Berlin; from supporting communities in the Philippines to reporting sexual harassment in Cairo. This Is Not an Atlas seeks to inspire, to document the underrepresented, and to be a useful companion when becoming a counter-cartographer yourself.

Genres: Nonfiction, Design

352 pages, Hardcover

Published September 26, 2018

Reviews

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found it to be an nice mesh of counter mapping examples, a bit of 'how-to', and ending on some food for thought with some banter between contributors.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me a while to get through - not because it's bad, but as an edited collection, made up of fairly short and sometimes quite dense chapters, it's not something I'd sit down with and read in one sitting.

Unsurprisingly, I liked some chapters more than others. The knitted flood wall, created in Dublin by an artist and group of local women, was a lovely example of the power of graphically-represented data (and the power of textile art). The participatory map of experiences of homelessness in Newcastle was beautiful and touching, and the map of the geographical distribution of Wikipedia articles was fascinating - and a disturbing illustration of the invisibility of some cultures and experiences on that site and elsewhere online. It also includes a section on starting out as a counter-cartographer, and on running workshops to create participatory maps.

Overall, This Is Not An Atlas is a good introduction to counter-mapping, and contains some very interesting and varied examples of maps from around the world.