Mapping the Invisible by Lucy Orta

Mapping the Invisible by Lucy Orta

Mapping the Invisible: EU-Roma Gypsies takes the reader on a visual journey across Europe with a focus on its fastest-growing ethnic minority: the Roma. This publication is the result of a unique partnership called EU-ROMA formed by a group of architects, designers and artists wishing to raise awareness to the diversity and richness of the Roma people. The book shows us the EU-ROMA projects conducted together with the gypsy communities in Romania, Greece, Italy and the UK.

The EU-ROMA partnership was formed as a result of European Community funding, linking the four countries with the emphasis on an open dialog on Roma housing issues and public space. The intriguing networks that have been formed were aimed at mobilizing and exchanging knowledge and experience from each of the members' specialist fields in the domain of architecture, contemporary art, urban planning, humanities, sociology and human rights. The outcomes of EU-ROMA form the heart of this book.

The book opens with an outline of the Roma cultural heritage, with a particular focus on the issues surrounding recent European migration and the current housing conditions, followed by the visual results of the projects with the Roma gypsies in Romania, Greece, Italy and the UK. Each chapter shows not only the tools and methods the artist and architects use in their projects, but also the impact of their work in the Roma communities, the challenges, personal experiences and outcomes of their work. For example: the construction of two improved 'shacks' in Belgrade, where recycling and waste material is used to create decent, adequate and affordable housing, offering sustainable solutions for Roma housing in Eastern Europe.

Mapping the Invisible features internationally celebrated artists in a unique partnership and is the first arts publication dedicated to European Roma gypsies. It is visually engaging and will inform and inspire readers on this fascinating cultural heritage.

Lucy + Jorge Orta are a collaborative practice that focuses on social and ecological issues, employing a diversity of media - drawing, sculpture, installation, couture, painting, silkscreen, photography, video, light and performance - to realise major bodies of work. Amongst their most emblematic series are: Refuge Wear / Body Architecture: portable minimum habitats bridging architecture and dress; HortiRecycling / 70 x 7 The Meal: the local and global food chain and the ritual of community dining; Nexus Architecture: alternative modes of establishing the social link; The Gift: a metaphor for the heart and the biomedical ethics of organ donation; OrtaWater / Clouds: water scarcity and the problems arising from pollution and corporate control; Antarctica: international human rights and freer international migration; and Amazonia: the value of the natural environment to our daily lives and to our survival. n recognition of their contribution to sustainability, the artists received the Green Leaf Award in 2007 for artistic excellence with an environmental message, presented by the United Nations Environment Programme in partnership with the Natural World Museum at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway. In 2013 the artists' monumental Meteoros Clouds was selected for the inaugural Terrace Wires public art commission for St Pancras International in London.

Since 2011 Nigel Prince is executive director of Vancouver's Contemporary Art Gallery. His previous collaborations include, curator of the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham (UK), working with the Power Plant in Toronto (Canada), in addition to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (Germany); the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam (Holland); the Venice Biennale; and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. He has launched many Canadian artists on the international scene, including Marcel Dzama, Steven Sherer, and Roy Arden.

Ellen Lupton is curator of contemporary design at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City and director of the Graphic Design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore. An author of numerous books and articles on design, she is a public-minded critic, frequent lecturer, and AIGA Gold Medalist.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781906155919
ISBN 10	1906155917
Title	Mapping the Invisible
Author	Lucy Orta
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Black Dog Publishing
Year published	2010-03-31
Number of pages	192
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.