The story of the city is written as its people interact with its places
through the simplicity of everyday life.
We construct the sounds and the sights of the city
with our busking and street art;
we give it personality by exchanging smiles, stealing kisses
and slamming car horns;
we draw the lines on the map through our paths to work.
Our stories build the city, brick by brick, paragraph by paragraph.
Invisible Cities is a participatory art project using digital mapping and mobile technologies to explore the relationships between people and place. It maps the memories held in sites around the city, and it explores the cities we hold in our minds.
Invisible Cities opens windows into the secret lives of people and places around us in. People who live, work, play and pass through the Invisible Cities are contributing stories of their relationships with particular places in the areas. I record their stories at the story site and embed the audio there, accessible through the free Invisible Cities app, and affix an Invisible Cities Story Site plaque to notify passersby of the significance of the place. The Invisible Cities app for iPhone and Android will notify users when they are near a story site so they can unlock the story held in that place.
Invisible Cities has been delivered in Melbourne (VIC), Fremantle (WA), and Brunswick (VIC). Download the Invisible Cities app to hear the stories via www.invisiblecities.com.au and stay in the loop via the Facebook page.
To read or listen to articles, reviews and interviews about Invisible Cities, visit The Age, Radio National Books & Arts, ABC774’s The Conversation Hour, VICE, Triple R’s The Grapevine (listen from 2:01:56), The Jacky Winter Group, Assemble Papers, SYN FM’s Art Smitten, Fremantle Gazette.
Invisible Cities Team
Artist | Concept – Asha Bee Abraham
App Development – Sandy Milne
Audio Production – Janak Rogers
UX/UI Design – Jemi White
Producer (Fremantle) – Karen Lee
Digital Producer – Ana Tiquia
Additional Recordings (Fremantle) – Marnie Richardson
Publicity (Fremantle) – Davey Craddock
Graphic Design – Marc Martin
Management (VIC) – Auspicious Arts
Invisible Cities has been supported by the Western Australian Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, City of Fremantle, Moreland City Council, and was initially developed with support from the City of Melbourne 2015 Arts Grants Program.