{"id":47361,"date":"2025-12-22T14:30:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T20:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/libraries\/?p=47361"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:04:27","slug":"american-geographical-society-library-exhibit-subverts-visitors-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/libraries\/2025\/12\/22\/american-geographical-society-library-exhibit-subverts-visitors-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"American Geographical Society Library Exhibit Subverts Visitors\u2019 Expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
If you stop by the American Geographical Society Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, you’ll likely catch yourself tipping your head to one side. At first, it might seem difficult to orient yourself while viewing many of the maps currently on display. But that\u2019s the intention behind AGSL\u2019s latest exhibit \u201cWhose North Is It Anyway?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interim Head of AGSL and Public Services Librarian Georgia Brown and her interns Jayne Kilander and Catie Mendivil set out to subvert visitors\u2019 expectations by curating a collection of maps where north is not at the top \u2013 a departure from the Western cartography many Americans are used to. The exhibit is divided into three approachable sections to guide your visit: religion, water, and nationalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The religion section features AGSL\u2019s oldest map \u2013 the 1452 Mappamundi<\/em> by Venetian cartographer Giovanni Leardo. For European Christian mapmakers like Leardo, you can expect to find maps oriented to the east because \u201cit\u2019s the direction that Jerusalem is, which is the most holy city,\u201d Brown explained. Some of the maps in the religion section also feature imagery like a depiction of Jesus Christ or cross symbols. Similarly, Islamic cartography tended to place emphasis on centering Mecca, so many maps of this kind are oriented with south at the top, so the holy city is prominently displayed. <\/p>\n\n\n
\n Harrison, Richard Edes. Venezuela Viewed from the North-Northeast<\/em>. 1939. 36 x 57 cm. Time Inc. American Geographical Society Library, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries. 267 M-[1939].<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Other maps use different markers as points of orientation, like those seen in the water section of the exhibit. The 1939 map Venezuela Viewed from the North-Northeast <\/em>by Richard Edes Harrison depicts the South American nation from the perspective of someone who might be flying in from East Coast hubs like New York City or Washington D.C. With maps like these, it\u2019s important to look at them with a critical eye, because \u201cthere are certain hidden implications you have to tease out,\u201d Brown said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for some mapmakers, the purpose of their maps is rather straightforward \u2013 to shine a spotlight on a country that\u2019s normally relegated to the lower right-hand corner. This is the case for a couple of maps in the nationalism section of the exhibit: the 2014 Gregory\u2019s Down Under Map of the World <\/em>and the 2001 Kiwi Upside Down World Map<\/em>. In these scenarios, the cartographers chose to put Australia and New Zealand right on top because, after all, those countries are \u201cfront and center in (their) own narrative,\u201d Brown noted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time you\u2019ve made your way through the exhibit, you\u2019ll have gotten a whole new perspective on what the world can look like. Brown wants visitors to know that the maps you\u2019ll find in \u201cWhose North Is It Anyway?\u201d are not only intriguing to look at, they\u2019re precise too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI try to really convey that just because it doesn\u2019t look like what we\u2019re used to, doesn\u2019t make it less accurate in any way,\u201d Brown said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
AGSL is free and open to 51ÁÔÆæ students and the public. Visitors can view \u201cWhose North Is It Anyway?\u201d Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. through the end of January, or online by checking out the digital exhibit StoryMap<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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