A ten-part podcast about space, society, and power inspired by British geographer Doreen Massey. From a London laundromat to a public park in Berlin, from a contested waterfront in Kochi to the Egyptian desert, our show seeks to inspire listeners to think about space and place as full of power, and to imagine political alternatives to the current world order.
https://thesociologicalreview.org/podcasts/spatial-delight/
episode 7: Geographical Imaginations
Host Agata Lisiak meets with artist and academic Heba Y. Amin at the Zilberman Gallery in Berlin. Professor Amin gives us a tour of her exhibition, When I See the Future, I Close My Eyes, and discusses how colonial and imperialist violence continues to shape our present. Her art demonstrates that technologies – even, or perhaps especially, those that appear to be “objective” – are inherently biased in favour of some populations and actually violent against others. Her art practice involves meticulous research and rigorous, subversive engagement with archives. She uses simulation, appropriation, restaging and humour to contest and disrupt dominant geographical imaginations.
We'd love to hear how art inspires you to question geographical imaginations. Is there an art piece that made you reflect on how you imagine the world and your place in it? A performance, photograph or film that has prompted a shift in your perspective? Please take a moment to fill out this form and share your thoughts with us.
Episode Credits
Host: Agata Lisiak
Guest: Heba Y. Amin
Writer and Producer: Agata Lisiak
Senior Editor: Susan Stone
Sound Producer: Reece Cox
Production Assistant: Adèle Martin
Music: Studio R
Artwork: Bose Sarmiento
Special thanks to: Zilberman Gallery
In partnership with: The Sociological Review Foundation
Funded by: Volkswagen Foundation
Find more about Spatial Delight at The Sociological Review.
Episode Resources
Doreen Massey’s work quoted or mentioned in this episode:
- The Shape of the World (The Open University, 1995)
- A Place in the World, edited by Doreen Massey and Pat Jess (The Open University, 1995)
- World City (Wiley, 2007)
Heba Y. Amin’s work:
- Windows on the West, hand-woven Jacquard textile, 2019
- Marseille’s Pyramid, sculpture and video work, 2019
- Atom Elegy, miniature model and live photo reconstruction, 2022
- Operation Sunken Sea, installation, performance, video, 2018
- The Earth is an Imperfect Ellipsoid, photography, text, projection, 2016
- The General’s Stork, mixed media, 2016 - ongoing
- The General’s Stork (Sternberg Press 2020)
- As Birds Flying كما تحلق الطيور video, 2016
- Heba Y. Amin’s website
- Zilberman Gallery website
Find more about Heba Y. Amin's work at The Sociological Review