Mirko
Winkel

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Mirko Winkel is the coordinator of the mLAB. The artist and curator teaches at the University of Bern and other places with the aim of synthesizing art with scientific research and socio-political concerns.

Susan
Thieme

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Susan Thieme is professor of Critical Sustainability Studies at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern. She brought the Global Science Film Festival to Bern and co-developed the Social Learning Video Method. She is co-founder of the mLAB.  MORE

Carolin
Schurr

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Carolin Schurr is professor of Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. As a feminist geographer, she has developed and experimented with affectual and visual methods to grasp the emotional effects of globalization processes on our intimate lives. She is co-founder of the mLAB.  MORE

Alexander
Vorbrugg

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Alexander Vorbrugg is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. His research interests include visual forms of research and science communication. He is part of the coordination group of the mLAB. MORE

Laura
Perler

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Laura Perler is a postdoctoral researcher in Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. In her research she investigates inequalities in relation to reproductive technologies and the Swiss asylum system. In her projects she uses audiovisual approaches and collaborates with artists. Together with Mirko Winkel, she is currently organizing a traveling exhibition on egg donation. She is part of the coordination group of the mLAB. MORE

Stefan
Brönnimann

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Stefan Brönnimann is a professor in Climatology at the University of Bern. His research focuses on weather and climate reconstruction, climate models, climate dynamics, effects of volcanic eruptions on climate and climate and society interactions. MORE

Elisabeth
Militz

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Elisabeth Militz is an Assistant Professor for Social and Digital Geographies at the University of Innsbruck. As a feminist political and cultural geographer, her focus lies on global/intimate relations and digital transformations. She experiments with affectual and feminist digital methodologies for human geographies. MORE

Adrien
Mestrot

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Adrien Mestrot is a professor in Soil Science at the University of Bern. Part of his research topics is analyzing the biogeochemistry of soils under global change to improve environmental health and food production.  MORE

Nora
Komposch

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Nora Komposch is a PhD student and assistant in Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. Her research interests are geographies of the body, care and reproduction, migration and labor, and politics of the global intimate. MORE

Johanna
Paschen

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Johanna Paschen is a PhD student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. Her research interests include social and environmental justice, transdisciplinarity and artistic research. In cooperation with the Academy of the Arts Bern, she is involved with the research project EcoArtLab. MORE

Luca
Tschiderer

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Luca Tschiderer is a PhD student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. His research focuses on alternative practices of work in health- and care related contexts. As part of his PhD project he uses social learning videos as a participatory method towards workers inquiry. MORE

Sarah
Hartmann

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Sarah Hartmann is a Postdoc student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. Her research looks at issues around work, transnational mobilities and future transformations in healthcare from a critical sustainability perspective. MORE

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orangotango
2021
Residency
Cartography
un/certain calibrations
Alexander Vorbrugg
maps
Orangotango

Mapping Possible Worlds

Exploring the pluriverse of counter-cartographies

As part of the mLAB residency un/certain calibrations, kollektiv orangotango together with mLAB and collectives, counter-cartographers and artists such as Nepthys Zwer & Philippe Rekacewicz ( visionscarto), Gabriela Fenner (Geobrujas) and Miodrag Kuč ( ZKU) will join forces to explore new ways into a pluriverse of counter-cartographies – “Mapping Possible Worlds” (MPW). This exploration is embedded in the ongoing project This Is Not an Atlas which beyond a book evolved into a transnational dialogue on counter-cartographies as well as a growing network of counter-mappers and a series of events.

Traditional cartography is built on the assumptions of exact measurement, certain calibrations, standardization and other cartographic norms, which can result in the illusion of objective geographic knowledge. The mission of counter-mappers is to challenge this cartographic illusion. Critical geographers like William Bunge or Denis Wood, artists like Trevor Paglen or Bureau d’etudes, activists like Gwendolyn Warren or Erin McElroy and indigenous groups like the Mapuche are part of a growing cartographic counter-movement. They are challenging the objectivity and hegemony of dominant cartographic representations with their maps “from below”. The struggle over geographical imaginations becomes even more multifaceted in the era of multiple digital, online and crowd-sourced mapping platforms.

Against this backdrop, Mapping Possible Worlds (MPW) aims to be a dis-orientation guide for our ongoing journey. MPW hopes to raise consciousness for both the pitfalls of mapping and the potential of counter-mapping. MPW wants to inspire students, artists, and activists to pick up this powerful tool. Therefore kollektiv orangotango wants to make counter-cartographic experiences and methods accessible through (digital) formats and methodological instructions. To this end, we will combine geographic reserach, elements of art, popular education, activism, cartography and video making.

 

orangotango logo
orangotango logo

kollektiv orangotango is a network of critical geographers, friends and activists who deal with questions regarding space, power and resistance (https://orangotango.info/).

Paul Schweizer (kollektiv orangotango & This Is Not an Atlas)is a geographer and popular educator. At the Institute of Human Geography in Frankfurt, he studied youth cultures in urban peripheries of cities such as Naples, São Paulo, and Istanbul. As a member of kollektiv orangotango, he co-organizes, curates and creates collective art projects in public space. After having co-edited “This Is Not an Atlas”, he participates in collective mapping processes in Europe and Latin America to foster global dialogues of counter-mappers. He works as a lecturer at University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Basel as well as at the Institute of Geography, Hamburg University.

Severin Halder (kollektiv orangotango & This Is Not an Atlas) is a geographer and activist. He holds a PhD from Freie Universität Berlin, worked at the Humboldt University and lectured at different universities in Europe and Latinamerica on topics like critical cartography, political ecology and action research. As co-founder of kollektiv orangotango he works with popular education networks, community gardens, social movements etc. by combining critical geography and different forms of creative protest. He published various books, articles and videos. He has extensive experience in combining activist, academic and artistic work.

Dr. Alexander Vorbrugg is a geographer at GIUB. He has extensive experience in bringing together academic, activist and public work, including the organization of public lectures and debates, film screening, festivals and workshops etc