free the map

A map is a visual story of the world. It feeds our imagination and shapes our view of the world. A standard atlas, however, predominantly tells only one story, that of the nation-state. It depicts a world in which people are uniformly packed into national containers, enclosed by borders, and in which migration is often represented by threatening arrows of invasion.

Free the Map goes beyond this narrow, state-centric cartography. The book argues for a new cartographic story: a Hermes – the grandson of Atlas and the god of mobility and human connections. To this end, it discusses several visually compelling, alternative cartographic representations of borders and migration.

Free the Map ends with a call to action.
Various artists and cartographers offer exciting ready-to-use Hermes challenges for education and public Maplabs.

Are you curious about the book and our process? The BNO (Association for Dutch Developers) conducted an interview about the creation and our studio. Check the interview with this link (in Dutch)

Let’s free the map from its territorial trap!

This book is:

An innovative, relational cartography on borders and migration
Beyond the static and nativist gaze of borderlines and threatening migration arrows
With exciting mapping assignments for Maplabs and education
On counter-maps showing human relations, experiences, and connections

Henk van Houtum is Professor of Geopolitics and Political Geography at Radboud University and head of the Nijmegen Centre for Border Research. He writes and teaches on the cartography and geopolitics of borders, migration and global justice. He also regularly publishes on these topics in the media. His previous books include: Beyond Fortress Europe (2016/2017), written with Leo Lucassen and Borderland; History and Future of the Border Landscape (2013) with Mark Eker.