World Map of Social Networks

Aleksandra Mir is an established and widely exhibited international artist with roots in Poland, Sweden and the USA. Mir has used maps in her work since 'The World from Above' in 2004, and the theme has developed through a project in 2006 with 20 USA maps using different American slogans, symbols and fragments and a series of monumental maps of the Mediterranean region in 2007. Mir has described this current World Map series as ‘in a way a conclusion of all of the above’. The drawing refers back to the traditional format of the map as a form of practical information and navigation while also critiquing in its abstraction contemporary social and cultural networks. This work has been dedicated to the memory of Tessa Sidey, Curator at Birmingham for nearly 30 years and was presented by the Art Fund through Art Fund International.