Su Yu Hsin
this is not an atlas
Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, Bowmanville, Canada
Jan 9, 2021 – Mar 13, 2022

this is not an atlas examines notions of mapping, mythologies, and belonging in the works of artists Jude Abu Zaineh, Bruno Canadien, Bonnie Devine, Maria Hupfield, Teo Monsalve, Su Yu Hsin, and Joseph Tisiga. The gathered works—among them paintings, prints, video and site-specific installations—make visible the histories and realities of sovereignty and resilience by remapping, reorienting, and reclaiming cartography as a decolonial practice.

Cartography charted the expansion of European empires into the Americas, Africa, and Asia, fuelling the forced expropriation of Indigenous lands. Authored by surveyors, maps are neither neutral nor objective; they serve as ideological tools articulating power hierarchies, economic motivations, and nationalistic agendas. The exhibition’s title is borrowed from a global collection of counter-cartographic writings by artists, environmentalists, and scholars who create maps to engender political activism.

Curated Noor Alé