Bringing the world to the world: Alighiero Boetti’s cartographies

Abstract

The Mappe series is one of Alighiero Boetti’s iconic works. Initiated during his second trip to Afghanistan, it was a collaborative work in which the pieces were designed by the artist and embroidered by Afghan women. This article analyzes the conceptual and creative process of Boetti’s maps, a progressive work that involved the concretization of the cartographic processes initiated in 1967 on city plans and maps of conflict spaces. The Mappe became a nodal element in his work with approximately one hundred and eighty pieces that would link with his last production, configuring a set in which the pieces signify themselves by individualizing the diversity of the world. The maps, on the other hand, supposed the transcription of a mental space that would contain the representation of the totality of the world and that were only capable of being unveiled in its contemplation.