New Geographies

Monica De Miranda
30 March 2007 to 11 May 2007

Rooted in cross-cultural fertilisations, New Geographies pushes the boundaries of the conventional notions of place and nation. A solo exhibition of work by Monica de Miranda, it reflects on how globalisation is profoundly transforming our apprehension of the world, provoking new senses of identity and the creation of new territories. New Geographies explores the subsequent erosion of national identities and the advent of a new cosmopolitanism, embodied by the juxtaposition of a rich mix of communities in a contemporary urban metropolis, such as London.

The various pieces exhibited offer a multi-faceted analysis of globalisation and how it affects our lives, at a micro – the local, the individual; and macro scale – sense of belonging to a community, a nation.

Building on Monica’s personal experience of globalisation, exploring her own narrative and the ones of her relatives, friends and fellow artists,
New Geographies intends to re-contextualise the abstract issues of multiple identity, cultural hybridity, displacements and integration, by providing tangible evidence of the impact of these phenomena on an individual’s environment: communications, creation of hybrid languages and customs, mixed relationships, regulation of migratory fluxes by national policies…

Questioning the assumption of fixed national identities, using multimedia, video and installation, New Geographies is a biographical account of Monica’s multiple and personal encounters with globalisation – being herself a global migrant.

Since graduating from Camberwell College of Art, and the Institute of Education, Monica de Miranda has participated in numerous exhibitions and festivals (October Gallery, ICA, Horniman Museum, V&A, Singapore Fringe Festival) and public art projects (Southwark Art Regeneration, Thames Festival). She was recently awarded a residency at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal.