What's On: Navigating Berlin – Perspectives on Cartography

Copyright: CLB Berlin. Photo by Vietze & Fels.

By Sara Bellini

Tonight at 7pm at CLB Berlin sees the start of the second chapter of Navigating Berlin: Perspectives on Cartography. This is an exhibition in three parts about historical maps in dialogue with contemporary art to narrate how the representations of the city over time mirror the society that made them. Part I closed last week and focused on the maps from the private collection of Michael Müller and featured works by Olaf Kühnemann and DISSS. Lisa Gordon curated the exhibition in collaboration with CLB, an interdisciplinary space for the intersection of urbanism, art and cultural studies. 

Navigating Berlin II: Design and Cognition considers the maps as artefacts and symbol systems. The works by Berlin based artists Elizabeth McTernan and Simon Faithfull explore Berlin orbital journeys and water representation in maps respectively. It will be open until the 2nd of February and will be followed by Representation and Absence, with the participation of artists Birgit Szepanski and Hadas Tapouchi. 

The third part of the exhibition confronts the socio-political background of the maps and how it influenced, and even distorted, the reproduction of the city on paper. Because a map, exactly like a book, a movie or any other art form, is only a partial portrait, filtered by the cultural lens of the author and aimed at manipulating the perception of the viewer.

Navigating Berlin I: 30.11.19 - 05.01.20
Navigating Berlin II: 10.01 - 02.02.20
Navigating Berlin III: 07.02 - 01.03.20

CLB Berlin
Aufbau Haus am Moritzplatz
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