Whose Knowledge Matters?

Fri 7 Jun – Mon 19 Aug

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Free, no booking required.

Whose knowledge matters when we represent the city? Who decides what land to protect or destroy, whose heritage to celebrate, whose stories to tell and who gets ‘seen’ in the visual and spatial record of the city? This exhibition presents counter-maps to explore residents’ knowledge from across Greater Manchester.

Maps are only one way of seeing the city and usually only focus on official representations of physical locations. Counter-maps trouble and disrupt formal representations to value residents’ everyday experiences of what it actually means to live in the city.

The central focus of this exhibition is a counter-map, produced as part of a collaborative research process with residents in Miles Platting, Manchester. The neighbourhood and residents of Miles Platting have experienced significant change due to austerity and privatisation processes.

A second participatory counter-map will be made throughout the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition can contribute their knowledge to the map, sharing: histories, protests and issues that matter to them in the city.

Through these maps we aim to provoke reflection on whose knowledge matters in the context of a vast and rapidly changing urban landscape.

Follow the counter-mapping process by following our twitter account @UK_RJC #KnowledgeMattersGM.

Or tell us what you think about whose knowledge matters in Greater Manchester by using the hashtag #KnowledgeMattersGM or emailing whoseknowledgematters@sheffield.ac.uk

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