we propose a counter-strategy of decolonizing our own bodies. Collecting autobiographical data, we will make visible the struggles of our bodies in a technology-oriented world that is collapsing, giving back embodied knowledge.

It is crucial to understand that bodies are subject to constructs of (social and political) power; networks and structures to govern and administer all aspects of (human) ‘life’ (biopolitics). Our bodies are subject to various virtual mechanisms, from governmental regulatory systems to societal norms that consequently make our bodies political entities.

Cartography (mapping) more generally is a method to categorise and also generate (produce) knowledge. In working with mapping as a practice, we work with documenting, but also creating and speculating relations between things.

Inspiration

Decolonization as care

Think about the ways in which you move in/
through the world. Think about the vectors
of your identity, not only limited to the ones
mentioned in the text. What are vectors of your
(embodied) experiences that reflect in how
people understand you?
I look like I’m fragile and weak. I don’t have very strong arm muscles and I’m quite small and short. As a result, I never have to carry heavy stuff if someone else is there. moving through the world thinking I need help. I am quickly zoned out, people think that I am deaf or dumb, or naive. I don’t listen to body signals because I think that this is just what everyone feels, everyone has a stomach ache sometimes. Feeling that I don’t deserve help and I should stop complaining.

– Think of situations, ways, reasons, and vectors of your
bodily existence and experience, that is outside
of the ‘norms’.
Is there any? Think of them and name them.
I have a very asymmetrical face
The huge scar on my face
I have eczema and skin rash
I’m queer

– Think about what networks of forces is your body
entangled with? What cultural forces, social
ones, what norms, what ideas of normality, what
networks of people, networks of care, networks
of support, etc.
I am entangled in norms. Not everyone knows I am in a queer relationship because it’s not the norm. When you go to the doctor you can only talk about 1 issue at a time. Because you only have 10 minutes. This is a system that in my eyes says; don’t talk to long about your problems because someone else also has problems. When I needed support I called multiple companies and they all send me the number of someone else and that’s why I stopped looking for help. no aftercare.

– Think about the general conceptual image that
comes to your mind when you hear the word
‘body’. What kind of body is that? What image of
a body comes to your mind when talking about
bodies in general? Maybe, try drawing that.
a body just flesh and organs and skin and freckles

– Do you feel like your knowing of the world is
different from others’? How and in which
aspects?
ofcourse it is, I only know what I’ve been told or learned. And the city that I live in. I feel like I know way less than older people. I know way less about racism than POC because I didn’t experience it. I only know things that are imported for me, to understand the culture and world I am currently living in. Ofcourse I know also a little about other cultures but I don’t think I would be able to understand that as well as I understand my own culture and how things work here because I lived here 19 years. Same for other people that come from different places or backgrounds.

– What is one of the things you worked with, using
your hands, that felt like you are coming to know
it intimately? Like the mud brick mentioned in
the text. What was a way in which you came to
“know” that thing intimately, using your body?
Clay, just feeling it, trying different things and methods.

Topics that we would like to investigate:

thinking patterns

warning signals of the body

reaction

the story of the body

past and present

I especially like the fabric map

First sketch I've made about the story of my body: first I was very very shy and introvert. This made me a well behaved calm child who was 'good' in school. Later I tried to be more extravert but the school system didn't allow me to do that. I was super dreamy and zoned out all the time, my teachers thought I was deaf. I wasn't good at math. So in the summer breaks they always gave me ten spreadsheets with sums to solve. So I would hate math even more. I felt dumb, stupid and like I wasn't understood. Later I was diagnosed with dyscalculia. All examples of the system trying to put me in a group where I don't belong. Later in my life I'm trying to unlearn all these assumptions I was teached at school. I'm trying to be free again.