Cian Dayrit is known for his cartographic artworks, which use maps and other institutionalised media to investigate notions of power and identity. Dayrit often deploys grassroots tools like ‘counter-cartography’, mapmaking that challenges dominant or colonial perspectives of identity, land and boundaries.

Frontiers of Struggle: A Working Atlas from the Ground at Mindanao presents a selection of maps originally hand-drawn by Lumad, Moro and peasant communities in the Mindanao region, during counter-mapping workshops conducted by artist activist Cian Dayrit from 2017. Dayrit deploys the process of mapping as a political gesture of survival and resistance to oppression, upholding human rights and social justice. The ‘counter-maps’ visually articulate and localise personal accounts of displacement, exploitation and harassment from state forces. They are accompanied by photographs by Mindanao-based photographers Jes Aznar and Pau Villanueva, with text by Dayrit and anthropologist Clod Yambao.

Return to Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago: Roots and Currents