(Deep) Mapping Uncertainties of Artists’ Locations in 17th-century Amsterdam.

Li, W. (Speaker)

Huygens - Kennis- en Kunstpraktijken

Activity: Talk or presentation › Academic

Period	11 May 2022
Event title	Mapping Uncertainty: Early Modern Global Cartography, 21st Century Discussions
Event type	Seminar
Location	Rome, ItalyShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International

Documents & Links

How to present uncertain knowledge? What did, and what do, mapmakers do when they are not sure? This posed a large problem in early modern times, the so-called ‘age of exploration’. Where and how to insert whole new continents, disputed discoveries, questionable coastlines, and islands beyond the imagination? What if the experiences of explorers contradicted age-old narratives? And how to present the yet unexplored parts of the world? The issue of visualizing uncertain information on a map, however, is not just an early modern issue. 21st-century scholars making maps, for example with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) face comparable problems. How to state ‘maybe’ or ‘I don’t know’ with only ones and zeros at your disposal? Where to draw the line? How to demonstrate (or hide) your uncertainty? This workshop brings together experts on mapmaking. They confront each other with fascinating case studies from their own research, varying from world maps and globes to maps of Africa, Tibet, and the Dutch coast. Input from the fields of digital humanities and cartopology ascertains that we put centre stage the interaction between the people, the world, and the map.