Diaa Lagan

Diaa Lagan is a multidisciplinary artist, and Phd candidate in Maynooth. Through his artistic research he explores the analogue-digital landscapes of memory, movement and archive. He views his work as an exploration of the fragile and fluid relationships that connect heritage and spoken folklore, based on West Asia, and how these relationships are shipped and reshaped by contemporary social and political forces. He has recently held solo and group exhibitions, both in Ireland and abroad, besides participation in academic seminars and collaborating on academic projects, within Filmeu alliance in IADT, exhibitions including Expanded Memories at the Royal Academy of Antwerp (2023) and “Shahid- شَـاهِد at The LAB Gallery (2023). He is currently a resident at FireStation Studios in Dublin for 2024-25.’

Project title: The Role of Spatial representation, and humanity digitalisation in representing west Asian culture and cartography.

Project Overview:

The research explores the artistic and spatial representation in medieval Islamic cartography, going through counter mapping and juxtaposed with the Western mapping and panorama, which employed linear perspective and visual storytelling to connect landscapes, and territorial narratives. The study further considers the impact of digitalisation on contemporary cartographic practices, focusing on the role of map-based news agencies that utilise Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and interactive platforms to present real-time spatial data. Through historical analysis and case studies of digital mapping technologies, the practice-led research investigates how cultural, philosophical, and technological contexts have shaped these cartographic traditions, along with developing a practical body of work, as virtual reality experience, and mobile application.
This PhD research is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.