The workshop “My special journey in Sarajevo” hosted by the War Childhood Museum (WCM) offered children, between 10 and 13 years old, a first approach to storytelling and mapping.
Each child made his one zine of a one day journey in Sarajevo. After pointing out the places that appear in the story each child located them on an abstract map of the city and “knitted” his path through Sarajevo. The threads are of different colours and each thread represents the story/path of a child’s story.
The final map consists of different paths criss-crossing, shared locations in between the stories, places some of the children haven’t yet visited and wish to do so. The children brought with them objects that relate to their stories and used them to decorate some spots on the map.
The map shows how a story can be represented differently; by tracing and graphical abstraction. Also, how the act of mapping reveals hidden features of the city and more stories shared with others.
The map shows no delimitations expect of a natural one, the river Miljacka. Cartographic lines, borders and frontiers, do not appear on this map as Tim Ingold says they are lines of “occupation, not habitation”. The goal is to help the children transfer their own lived journey on a map beyond any visual influence or restriction.