Free the Map in The Guardian

‘Is it time to redraw our maps?’ is the title of an article that appeared in The Guardian this Sunday. In the piece, which discusses the need for a different view of maps—a “mapping revolution”—Henk van Houtum is given a role model function. His book Free the Map shows how we can distance ourselves from harmful forms of cartography, particularly in the area of ​​migration. Science journalist Laura Spinney writes: : ‘He wants to replace the state-centric mindset with one that emphasises mobility and human connections. Or as he puts it, to swap Atlas, buckling under the weighty globe, for his grandson Hermes – he of the winged sandals, messenger between worlds.’

About 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 as threatening invasion arrows.
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!