The Restitution Map

The idea for the map was born on the first day of class when the creative project was introduced. Before I even knew anything about the course or what I was going to do, I knew I wanted to make a Marauder’s Map of sort; the idea of the map fascinated me as it represented a sort of maze or fortress with layers and layers of interconnected routes hidden from sight, and that was what the medical narrative felt like: seeing beyond the surface. The idea turned out to be perfect for the theme of the restitution narrative, and thus the Restitution Map was born.

Before the map’s creation, the idea of Hogwarts as a fortress stuck to me because of its complicated floor plan and its many rooms – much like a prison or hospital. But as the idea grew and the theme of the restitution narrative was decided, it dawned on me that Azkaban would be a much better metaphor. The idea of Hogwarts as a fortress lived on in the painting on the map’s cover instead as towers and castle walls envelope the title, thus protecting the restitution narrative within. One idea that stayed consistent was to have the Dementors as the guards of the fortress, much like the authorities in prisons and hospitals that determine, and in worse cases, manipulate and distort the meaning of reality for their occupants. In “Minus One,” these figures of power become makers of the meaning of health and sickness.

The map thus connects literature, movies, and the lived reality of the restitution narrative in political and social issues – the last of which tackles the consequences of what happens when the aforesaid fiction of corrupted power becomes reality. The idea of including movies came to me when I realised how pervasive and naturalised the restitution narrative was in films that we rarely realise its presence. Even in movies such as Zootopia and Finding Dory (both of which had to be scrapped due to space limit) that are aimed at children, the idea of the sick role was evident in both of them. When ill or failing to function according to societal norms, an individual is kept and locked away somewhere segregated from society until they are ‘fixed’ back into a functional being. It sounds completely logical when spelled out, but it is the restitution narrative at work in both the films and in our social upbringing none the less. In our culture guided by norms, it can hence be easy to see how the manipulation of this narrative in corrupted hands can be deadly. The map thus also includes the more grim reality of such corruption in its politics section, designed as the Dark Forest where ill intentions and dark forces operate behind the façade of well-meaning healthcare.