Join us at the Royal Irish Academy on Dawson Street for a participatory workshop and informal discussion to collectively explore the interconnections between surveying and surveillance across Ireland, from the 16th century to today.

Together, we will get up close with large-scale, original Ordnance Survey maps, and hand-traced copies of significant historic maps of Ireland made by Ordnance Survey mapmakers, held today in the Royal Irish Academy’s archives.

Through informal discussion we will reflect on how mapping, surveying, language and power have ongoing control in today’s society, particularly in relation to borders, private property, land exclusion and access.

We will open with a short writing prompt.

This workshop will be facilitated by Crystal Bennes, an artist based in Edinburgh and currently in residence at the Irish Museum of Modern Art for 2025. Her work critically examines histories of colonial knowledge production, environmental extraction, gender and language. The workshop discussion will inform a new video artwork currently in development through her IMMA Residency.

This workshop is open to all. We would like to emphasise that people who have not previously engaged with institutional archival research are especially encouraged to join. Places are limited to 20 participants.