Material Counter-Cartographies: (Un)Mapping (In)Justice, Spatial Wounding, and Abstract Reticulations

• In Event: Interrogating (Un)Masking in Qualitative Inquiry at the Intersections of Critical Geographies and Spatial Justice

Abstract

This study takes an arts-based approach to (un)masking the (colonial) naming histories of public schools in Florida. The artistic methodology it uses was inspired by the abstract work of renowned artist Mark Bradford. Through a Bradforian methodology (e.g. research, layer, excavate), the authors created two maps—counter-cartographies—to accentuate the problematic undertow of schooling through names couched in coloniality. The material articulations of this research are offered to educators who could benefit from a deeper understanding of the colonial underpinnings of maps and map-making writ large as well as serve as a mechanism for reimagining mapping as a creative and decolonial de-linking practice of cartography. More explicitly, counter-cartographies can be used to spatially express masked history/ies within the context of place-based naming practices and spatial wound(ing)s. The session presentation will expose attendees to the counter-cartographic methodology. As such, this presentation will support engagement with this methodology by educators involved in knowledge work (e.g., educating, learning, researching) through pedagogical orientations of counter-cartography. Being said, we will also present several examples of cartographies created by secondary students that foreground reflexivity and spatially responsive process(es/ings) within the context of identity articulation/expression. In doing so, we will invite members of the audience to consider pairing various (abstract) methodological practices with theoretical(ly material) thrusts that would otherwise neglect centuries of social (and spatial) wounds that are unjustly masked (by scabs) or marked (by scars).

Authors

• Bretton A. Varga, California State University - Chico

• Vonzell Agosto, University of South Florida