About
Welcome to Mapping Ecologies within Norwich.
As urbanites we think of ecologies as relating to a remote wilderness – the deep oceans, the great outdoors. However, in her introduction to Connectedness, editor and curator Marianne Krogh writes:
“For a very long time, we have regarded nature as something separate to ourselves. We have established societies, languages, and mindsets that prevent us from seeing the world any differently” (2020, p.13).
She goes on to argue that it is this imbalance that has engendered the climate catastrophe, but that art (and by extension illustration) has a role to play in creating a new language that connects us to ecologies wherever they are found.
Mapping Ecologies Within Norwich is an interactive map showcasing outcomes of a 17-week collaboration between Nina Carter and Matthew Lewis of the independent climate magazine It’s Freezing in LA! (IFLA!) and 2nd year illustration students, Norwich University of the Arts. Over the course of three weeks students (20 at a time) did fieldwork in and around Norwich. Interpreting their findings through creative writing and drawing, and with input from Nina and Matthew created the illustrations found here.
Navigating the map lets you explore these illustrated responses to seven sites around the city, each site was chosen by IFLA! for its unique history and ecology. Entering the different sites virtually, you will see the diverse ways students have imagined how living organisms of every size and species relate to one another, and to their environment in its past, present, or future.
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During the summer of 2023 a group of eight illustration students formed a design team, and with input from with Nina, Matthew, and Norwich staff they developed the concept and artwork for this map of Norwich ecologies. Of their work they write:
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“As a design team, we wanted to make something that represented the body of student work in its entirety, bringing together unique styles into one space. To take the viewer on a journey through
Norwich’s ecologies we decided on using buses. For us this emulates the sense of exploration and travelling between locations.”
In mapping these Norwich sites, the illustration students have been engaging with ecological thinking.
They have spent time in- and considered the different sites as the habitat of not only people, but of actual/imagined plants or animals who lived, live, or might be found there in the future. The project in this way is both a broad exploration and a tentative step toward articulating the new (visual) language Marianne Krogh is searching for in Connectedness. In putting together this map, we are inviting you to connect with the diverse ecologies found within Norwich and hope it inspires you to explore and protect those that you coinhabit.
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A special thanks to Bethany Stacey and Naomi Lampe for putting together the online map, and to the 2nd year illustration students (2022-23) for their participation in the project.
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Lastly, if you feel moved to visit the actual locations after browsing the map, the design team has provided travel directions (starting from Norwich City Centre):
The Great Cockey - walk to site from city centre
Norwich Castle Meadow - walk to site from city centre
Prince of Wales Road - walk to site from city centre
Plantation Gardens - First bus 26
Rosary Cemetery - First bus 26A
Harrison’s Woods - First bus 11 / 11A or Konect bus 502
Mid-yare Nature Reserve - First bus 14 / 15
credits:
visiting lecturers
Nina Carter - IFLA! art editor and creative director
Matthew Lewis - IFLA! design lead and creative director
Student design team
Bethany Stacey (@bethanyisabels)
Naomi Lampe (@4thenome)
Jodie Paterson (@jodie.paterson)
Louise Keddy (@loulouartzx)
Shani Singer (@floral.cat_)
Daisy Troth (@dizzillustration)
Jack Fuller (@j4ck_4rt)
Norwich staff
Gillian Sampson - course leader
Christian Petersen - lecturer and project manager
Phoebe Troup - educational developer and project UX adviser
Samuel Cox - IT technician and project producer