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TERRA INCOGNITA 
2023 - ongoing
performative research/multimedia performace 

Hana Kokšalová







Terra Incognita means unknown land, unexplored territory. It was used in early map-making to mark territories, which had not been discovered (colonized) yet. Currently there are not many unmapped free spaces on the Earth, but one huge mysterious space lies beneath our feet.

What is the underground of our cities made of? Soil, water, and anthropogenic infrastructure create a safe grounding for our cities to develop and function. And how is life underground? Are infrastructural connections really the veins of our cities? What will we discover when we start digging?  What if our infrastructure collapses?

Terra Incognita is looking for non-invasive ways to observe this space.  In performative praxis, I explore  the human body  through geological metaphors, while also exploring our sensory abilities of understanding the underground. 

The research also includes studying different temporalities of non-human existence, politics of urban infrastructure or stories about inner Earth, as told by the founding fathers of geology, by popular literature,  by native communities or conspiracy theorists.
The project is also developed in consultation with visually impaired people.

What is invisible but keeps us alive? What can we see in complete darkness? Is blindness fragile or powerful? What can we learn from the deep biosphere and other life underground?












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