This project maps Sharjah City in the United Arab Emirates. The InfoCart is a mobile information kiosk which was deployed in shopping malls and outdoor public spaces in Sharjah during January/February 2011. The cart operators passed out a questionnaire and had conversations with more than 500 people who live and work in the emirate. They provided information about the city and about places that are important to their daily lives and to their community. Much of the information in the CityMap was determined by their experiences.
80% or more of the residents of the UAE are from other places, mainly South Asia and the Gulf region; and almost none have citizenship rights. Official maps are printed in Arabic and English only. The CityMap was printed in six of the main languages used in Sharjah: Arabic, English, Urdu, Malayali, Bangla, and Tagalog. It is a functional map that contains local knowledge as well as subtle commentary on life in Sharjah. The project was produced in collaboration with architecture and design students at the American University of Sharjah and Natasha Jen/njenworks. It was commissioned for Sharjah Biennial 10.
Downloads:
> Sharjah CityMap in English/Tagalog
> Sharjah CityMap in Arabic/Urdu
> Sharjah CityMap in Bangla/Malayali
Exhibited:
+ Sharjah Biennial 10: Plot for a Biennial | 3.16-5.16.11 | Sharjah, U.A.E
> Mapmaker Manifesto at the Istanbul Design Biennial | 11.1-12.15.14
+ Opus5 | 6.12 | American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
+ ArtScape | 6.2.12 | Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Press/Published:
> Plot for a Biennial (Catalog). Rasha Salti, Suzanne Cotter, Haig Aivazian. (Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE, 2011)
> Visual Storytelling (Gestalten, Berlin, 2011)
> designboom blog
Links:
> Sharjah Biennial Project Page
> Alexis Bhagat
Project Team:
CityMap Design: Natasha Jen/njenworks
Project Coordinators (Sharjah): Petra Matar, Ammar Savliwala
InfoCart Design Team: Enayatollah Javad Ghaedi, Heba Helmy Hammad, Saeid Abdolaziz Khezri, Wasib Mahmood, Naji Muneer Mah'd, with Professor Kevin Mitchell
InfoCart Logo: Yasmin Mohammed
InfoCart Operators: Mahesh Tharrakal, Lany Juan, Marife Falculan, Lama Iskandarani, Anete Kollanur, Bissan Joudah, Shekar Debnath.