free the map
Free the Map From Atlas to Hermes: a New Cartography of Borders and Migration
auteurs / authors: Henk van Houtum | contributions a.o. by / bijdragen o.a. van: Irene Stracuzzi, Tofe Alobaidi, Malkit Shoshan, Catalogtree, Annelys de Vet, Martijn Engelbregt, Ruben Pater, Yishay Garbasz, Sarah Mekdjian, Jonas Staal, Foundlan
In collaboration with: Koninklijke Bibliotheek | with support of: Creative Industries Fund, Pictoright
Photography of: Mortaza Rezaie
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.
Let’s free the map from its territorial trap!
The can order the book at 010 publishers
www.nai010.com/freethemap
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