Editorial

Maps describe boundaries and ownership. They plot destinations and show us the way. They follow terrain and stars and thoughts. Who has not been absorbed in a map? In an increasingly global, electronic culture, maps are more resonant than ever, their very specific logic and beauty often appropriated by artists and art events. Zenomap, the first national presentation of new work from Scotland at the Venice Biennale 2003, was one such, so named after the brothers Zeno, two Venetian navigators who allegedly sailed west from Scotland and charted new territories ninety years before Columbus.

Now, in another Venice year, the new contemporary art magazine Map continues the process of drawing together and celebrating art and artists in Scotland, while connecting to exhibitions and artists around the world; a process that stretches back at least as far as the ‘Strategy-Get-Arts’ interventions in Edinburgh over thirty years ago, and into the future with Glasgow’s new international art festival in April 2005.