Cultural Mapping as Cultural Inquiry

This book provides an introduction to the emerging and interdisciplinary field of cultural mapping, making a case for and demonstrating the spatial turn emerging in many related areas of critical, social and artistic research. Contributors explore innovative ways to encourage artistic intervention and public participation in cultural mapping—recognizing that artistic practices and public involvement introduce a range of challenges spanning various phases of the research process, from the gathering of data, to interpreting data, to presenting “findings” to audiences. This collection explores the international scope of approaches to mapping cultures and communities.

This edited collection provides an introduction to the emerging interdisciplinary field of cultural mapping, offering a range of perspectives that are international in scope. Cultural mapping is a mode of inquiry and a methodological tool in urban planning, cultural sustainability, and community development that makes visible the ways local stories, practices, relationships, memories, and rituals constitute places as meaningful locations. The chapters address themes, processes, approaches, and research methodologies drawn from examples in Australia, Canada, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Italy, Malaysia, Malta, Palestine, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Ukraine. Contributors explore innovative ways to encourage urban and cultural planning, community development, artistic intervention, and public participation in cultural mapping—recognizing that public involvement and artistic practices introduce a range of challenges spanning various phases of the research process, from the gathering of data, to interpreting data, to presenting "findings" to a broad range of audiences. The book responds to the need for histories and case studies of cultural mapping that are globally distributed and that situate the practice locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.