An error On The Map

Marta Jarabo, 2019.

Artistic intervention in public space for Plovdiv European Capital of Culture.

Although the vast Maritsa riverbanks are full of wild flora and fauna, the riverbed has been rather neglected as a leisure destination by locals and has even acquired the status of an invisible and abandoned urban space. With the above mentioned artistic interventions, we announced the error we found in the map of Plovdiv – the missing representation of the shores of Maritsa – and prepared and distributed an updated map in which the green areas of the riverbanks are visible, and the space is marked with the name Park Maritsa.

From memory, interpretation and belonging, we will try to stimulate a way of relating to the environment that helps to promote inter-species coexistence and the multifunctionality of ecosystems.
Is it be possible to resituate this area within the mental map of Plovdiv citizens just by representation? Can we enjoy the riverbanks as a common for the city preserving its natural condition?

At the same time, we also created an online platform containing various river podcasts, bringing together shared stories and perspectives from Plovdiv residents, connected in one way or another to the river, accessible via QR code on signs placed along the shore.

Proyect website

Collaborators on the project: Manuel González, journalist

Under the theoretical framework of post-nature and the anthropocene, the concept behind ‘An error on the map‘ intends to reverse the traditional opposition between nature and culture. In this way Maritsa Park, a frontier space where both ’poles“ have been mixed in varying proportions throughout history, becomes a laboratory to rethink the way in which humans relate to the environment through empathic strategies, as a gateway to the future of cities, green, natural, open and inclusive.

An error

On The Map

Marta Jarabo, 2019.

Collaborators on the project: Manuel González, journalist

‘A park was found on the Maritsa riverbanks. If you are interested, please visit.‘ – with this billboard inscription in the summer of 2019 in Plovdiv begins the series of artistic interventions of the project “An Error on the Map” for the European Capital of Culture Plovdiv 2019. Two weeks later, opening ceremony curtains – each with a different word on it- appear, hanging over the riverbed from the bridges. Together they make up the sentence: ‘Maritsa Park already exists!‘.

Although the vast Maritsa riverbanks are full of wild flora and fauna, the riverbed has been rather neglected as a leisure destination by locals and has even acquired the status of an invisible and abandoned urban space. With the above mentioned artistic interventions, we announced the error we found in the map of Plovdiv – the missing representation of the shores of Maritsa – and prepared and distributed an updated map in which the green areas of the riverbanks are visible, and the space is marked with the name Park Maritsa.

From memory, interpretation and belonging, we will try to stimulate a way of relating to the environment that helps to promote inter-species coexistence and the multifunctionality of ecosystems.
Is it be possible to resituate this area within the mental map of Plovdiv citizens just by representation? Can we enjoy the riverbanks as a common for the city preserving its natural condition?

At the same time, we also created an online platform containing various river podcasts, bringing together shared stories and perspectives from Plovdiv residents, connected in one way or another to the river, accessible via QR code on signs placed along the shore.