The shared cartography of Hilbre Island
What is deep mapping?
Deep maps are an experimental way of recording and making visible what is usually overlooked within a landscape. They are a way of connecting disparate thoughts/elements/ways of thinking through the use of different materials by both amateurs and professionals – the level of expertise in one are is irrelevant. Deep maps are focused on the land and the landscape; on the accountable layering of stories. These stories can be shaped by one person or many. There are no set rules.
Deep maps are unstable, fragile and temporary. They are a conversation and not a statement.
Embrace the fragility of the landscape, allow yourself to become unstable in the security of combined focus.
Deep Mapping Hilbre Island
On the workshops ‘Re-Imagining Hilbre’ to be carried out during April 2025, visitors to the island will be invited to take part in the deep mapping of Hilbre. By observing, touching and recording what people see on the sandstone formations and then adding their own interpretations they will be able to relate to what they see in a more profound and personal way.
The methods to be used to explore the geomorphology are methods I have used myself as an artist since my early explorations of Hilbre. Attendees to the workshops will be invited to sketch/draw/do rock rubbings with pastels and charcoals/ do some clay modelling/take a few notes of what we see. The purpose of doing this is to invite people to create their own impression of the geomorphology and also to give them the opportunity to make sense of what they gathered.
At the end of the workshop, everyone will be invited inside one of the old buildings on the island to create a collage together or individually. All these contributions will generate a deep mapping conversation.
Some sources about deep mapping:
Modeen, M. Biggs, I. (2021). Creative Engagements with Ecologies of Place. Geopoetics, Deep Mapping and Slow Residencies, Routledge.
Kavanagh, E. (2018). Re-Thinking the Conversation: A Geomythological Deep Map [online]. Sheffield Hallam University. Available at: https://archives.library.wales/uploads/r/llyfrgell-genedlaethol-cymru-national-library-of-wales/3/0/e/30ea498301d3b10eac309b8f30e231ca6deb6768d54453427ded7b6589f41cbb/Re-thinking_the_Conversation-_A_Geomythological_Deep_Map_.pdf
Roberts, L. (2016). Deep Mapping, MDPI. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/5/1/5
