Maps as Art and Storytelling: From Enlightenment Surveys to Modern Dioramas

The art of cartography has long been considered a scientific pursuit, but a new exhibition highlights its inherent storytelling capabilities. From meticulously detailed 18th-century city maps to contemporary photographic collages, maps reveal not just spatial information, but also the desires, fears, and historical contexts of their creators and the societies they depict.

The Legacy of Exactitude and Imagination

Jorge Luis Borges, in his 1946 short story “On Exactitude in Science,” imagined an empire obsessed with creating a map so precise it matched the land’s scale. As the map aged and was discarded, so too did the empire itself. Borges’s tale serves as a potent reminder that maps are not merely objective representations of reality, but interpretations shaped by human ambition and, subject to time’s passage.

Cities, Like Dreams: An Exhibition at TEFAF

This exploration of the relationship between maps, storytelling, and perception is central to the “Cities, like dreams” exhibition, held at the TEFAF art fair in Maastricht. The exhibition’s title draws inspiration from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities (1972), which posits that “Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, and their perspectives deceitful.”

18th-Century Maps: Rationality and Arcadia

A collaboration between Daniel Crouch Rare Books and Michael Hoppen Gallery, the exhibition features a collection of 18th-century city maps. These cartographical products of the Enlightenment initially appear as rational, objective surveys of burgeoning urban centers. Although, closer examination reveals a layer of storytelling, often presenting an idealized vision of the city rather than a strictly accurate depiction.

Paris and the Ancien Régime

The Turgot map of Paris (1739), a staggering feat of surveying that took years to complete, depicts every house, tree, and courtyard. Yet, it also functions as a “requiem” for the ancien régime, masking social inequalities with a veneer of order just 50 years before the French Revolution.

New York: On the Brink of Revolution

Bernard Ratzer’s “Plan of New York” (1767-70) portrays a semi-agrarian colonial settlement, but also foreshadows the transformative revolution to come, as the city was used by the British military to suppress the uprising.

Rivalries and Hidden Agendas

Even seemingly objective maps could be motivated by political agendas. Jean Rocque’s “A Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster and Borough of Southwark” (1746) was, in part, created by a French Huguenot immigrant to demonstrate London’s superiority over Paris.

Beyond the Grand View: Details and Daily Life

While the grandeur of these maps is impressive, it’s the small details that truly bring the cities to life. Rocque’s map of London reveals locations like the Tyburn Tree (near present-day Marble Arch) and Merlin’s Cave tavern, offering glimpses into the lives – both noble and disreputable – of the city’s inhabitants. These maps reveal practical details, such as the wood needed to heat Parisian homes or the location of gallows in Amsterdam.

Sohei Nishino: Panoramic Photographic Dioramas

Complementing the historical maps are the photographic diorama collages of contemporary Japanese artist Sohei Nishino. Nishino spends months walking the streets of cities like London, New York, and Tokyo, photographing thousands of buildings and perspectives before splicing them together to create immersive panoramic views. These works capture the vibrancy and complexity of the modern metropolis.

The Romance of Cartography

The exhibition prompts a reflection on the evolving relationship between utility and beauty in mapmaking. While GPS technology offers unparalleled convenience, something is lost in the transition from the artistry and ingenuity of historical cartographers armed with compasses and theodolites. These maps captivate not just for their spatial accuracy, but for their subtext of time, transformation, and loss.

March 14-19, tefaf.com