Imagined Mappings of Geopolitical Power: Liquid Borders, Military Infrastructures and Ecological destruction in the South China Sea

Tsionki, Marianna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7770-2076 (2022) Imagined Mappings of Geopolitical Power: Liquid Borders, Military Infrastructures and Ecological destruction in the South China Sea. In: Visual Culture Wars at the Borders of Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. ISBN 978-981-16-5292-9

Abstract

This essay analyses installations by the architectural research practice Map Office concerning the geopolitical status and border complexity of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Control of the Spratly Islands, as well as maritime rights of way and resources in the South China Sea, is contested by a number of nation-states, including Malaysia, the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan), the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In recent years the PRC has sought to project an imagined historical sovereignty over the Spratly Islands by building an extensive network of military bases there and by resisting the international community’s recognition of the South China Sea as an international waterway. It is argued with regard to installations by Map Office’s that the continuing liminal liquidity of the South China Sea plays critically against arbitrary impositions of national identity as well as to related struggles over ownership of rights of way and material resources. The research was initiated as part of a curatorial project - a collaboration with architectural research practice Map Office that resulted in an exhibition and catalogue. It involved conversations, interviews and an in-depth understanding of the history, geopolitical and geo-economic significance of the territorial dispute as well as the ecological ramifications of the conflict. The research contributed to a deeper understanding of MAP Office’s practice, informed the curatorial approach and was consolidated in the essay. In terms of knowledge production, through employing visual culture research methodologies it offers an analysis of the multi-layered complexities (geopolitical, cultural and ecological) in the area. It highlights the role of architecture and visual art in providing an interdisciplinary account of the historical conflict.

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