For this year’s GIS Day, the Library of Congress is holding a virtual event focusing on the 2020 Census, featuring a keynote by Census Bureau geography chief Deirdre Bishop as well as three technical papers. The program will be (or was, depending on when you read this) streamed on the Library of Congress’s website and on their YouTube channel on Wednesday, 17 November 2021 at 1 p.m. EST, and will be available for later viewing.

Australian author and illustrator Kathleen Jennings will teach a workshop on fantasy mapmaking in June: the focus of Map Making and World Building is “on story and art,” the mapmaking illustrative rather than cartographical, and in general it seems to be about the relationship between map and story. The workshop will take place on 19 June both in-person (at the Queensland Writers Centre in Brisbane) and via livestream; tickets range from A$35 to A$100, depending.

A History of Maps and Mapping, a short introductory online course taught by Katherine Parker as part of the London Rare Books School’s program of summer courses, “will challenge students to destabilize and broaden the traditional definition of ‘map’, and to recognize maps as socially constructed objects that are indicative of the values and biases of their makers and the cultures that created them. Students will learn how to analyse and catalogue maps for a variety of research purposes, and to discuss changes in map technology and style without recourse to a progressive narrative of scientific improvement.” Matthew Edney will supply a guest lecture. The course runs from 29 June to 2 July and costs £100 (student) or £175.

How to Do Map Stuff is a full day of live online mapping workshops that will take place on Wednesday, 29 April. Coordinated by Daniel Huffman, speakers will host their own livestreams at announced times (the working schedule is here).

Presentations made at last year’s British Cartographic Society/Society of Cartographers conference were recorded on video. The BCS reports that they’re now available online via this web page.

The Festival of Personal Geographies explores the use of art in creating personalized maps. Running until March 19 at several venues in Ames, Iowa, the Festival consists of an exhibition (“‘Index to a Place,’ an exhibition of prints, drawings and paintings that use the graphical languages of maps as a starting point in their creation”) and four workshops on personalized mapmaking. The event is organized by local artist Tibi Chelcea and hosted by ISU’s Design on Main Gallery. Free admission, free registration.

Previously: Personal Geographies; Art and Personal Mapmaking.

The Harvard Map Collection is celebrating its 200th anniversary. There’s an exhibition, Follow the Map: The Harvard Map Collection at 200, which runs through October 26 at Harvard’s Pusey Library, as well as a symposium, Follow the Map: Reflecting on 200 Years of the Harvard Map Collection, which takes place October 25 and 26; Susan Schulten will be delivering the keynote. [WMS]

Update: Here’s the exhibition catalogue.

At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival? You may want to check out The OS Map Fan Club, an hour-long solo performance about Ordnance Survey maps that sounds relevant to our interests. Written and performed by Helen Wood, The OS Map Fan Club has been making the fringe and festival circuit this year and has been getting good reviews (see here, here and here). At the Edinburgh Fringe until 18 August; details and tickets here. [Map of the Week]

Previously: Cartography: ‘A Gently Interactive Show’ at the Halifax Fringe Festival.

Mapping the Borders, a series of talks, exhibitions and workshops hosted by the University of Sunderland from 18 to 25 November as part of this year’s Being Human festival, includes an art exhibition, a workshop on glass mapmaking, a full day of activities on the 19th, and a number of pop-up talks. [NLS]

If you’re in Halifax, you might still have a chance to catch a showing of Colleen MacIsaac’s Cartography at the Halifax Fringe Festival. As The Coast describes it:

For Fringe she has meticulously constructed a small show at The Living Room—maximum 30 seats and 20 minutes—in which she paints a map live, trying to get back to a single tiny, perfect moment in time. […] “I liked the idea of the need to make a map,” says MacIsaac on the patio at The Haligonian, “as opposed to the need to follow a map.”

It’s a gently interactive show: The house size dictates which geographical feature MacIsaac uses as the map’s start point. Patrons are handed a tiny program (“for wayfarers”) that contains a questionnaire asking for places they feel safe, alive, that they can’t remember. “I wanted it to be something where the audience would have a chance to reflect,” she says, “or have some moments in the show where the audience could contemplate their own histories, or their own memories.”

Three showings left: one tonight, one tomorrow afternoon and one Sunday evening. [WMS]

Previously: Schwartz Collection Exhibition Opens Monday; Schwartz Donates Maps to University of Rochester.

The Guardian’s Mark Brown and the Spectator’s Stephen Bayley have long and thoughtful pieces about the exhibition. The Independent’s Simon Calder is somewhat more solipsistic, but observes that this exhibition “might prove to be a wintry retrospective on the summer of peak cartography.”

There was also a segment on BBC Breakfast (using music from The Lord of the Rings was a bit of cognitive dissonance); the clip is available on Twitter:

The joy of maps: @GrahamSatchell has had a sneak preview of @BLMaps @BritishLibrary pic.twitter.com/Bfof8ODYzm

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) November 3, 2016

The British Library’s Maps and Views blog has a sample of the maps on display.

As you’d expect from a major exhibition like this, a companion book is out this week from the British Library. It’s available from Amazon UK in both hardcover and paperback; those of us in North America will have to wait a bit until it turns up here.

Previously: British Library Exhibition on 20th Century Maps Opening in November.

Later this week, the Library of Congress will host a two-day conference celebrating the 500th anniversary of Martin Waldseemüller’s 1516 map, Carta Marina. Facts or Fictions: Debating the Mysteries of Early Modern Science and Cartography will take place on 6-7 October in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C. The conference agenda is not limited to Waldseemüller or his 1516 map; notable speakers include Kirsten Seaver, Chet Van Duzer and, with a major lecture, Dava Sobel. Free admission; no tickets or reservations required.

(The 1516 Carta Marina should not be confused with the Waldseemüller map most people mean: it’s his 1507 Universalis Cosmographia that names “America.” Nor should it be confused with Olaus Magnus’ Carta Marina.)

The Northwest Passage: Navigating Old Beliefs and New Realities opens 29 September 2016 at the Osher Map Library in Portland, Maine. [WMS]

Mapping Australia: Country to Cartography runs from 4 October 2016 to 15 January 2017 at the AAMU Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art in Utrecht, Netherlands. The exhibition “will explore the different representations of Australia. Alongside the VOC’s historical maps of Australia’s coast, drawn by Dutch cartographers in the 17th and 18th centuries, are striking depictions of the country in contemporary art works of Aboriginal artists that are derived from thousands of years of traditions.” [WMS]

Two World Wars. The moon landings. The digital revolution. This exhibition of extraordinary maps looks at the important role they played during the 20th century. It sheds new light on familiar events and spans conflicts, creativity, the ocean floor and even outer space.

It includes exhibits ranging from the first map of the Hundred Acre Wood to secret spy maps, via the New York Subway. And, as technology advances further than we ever imagined possible, it questions what it really means to have your every move mapped.

The Evening Standard and TimeOut London look at one item going on display: Harry Beck’s original sketch of what would become the iconic Tube map.

Update, 20 June: And here are the seven maps in question.

There may be other resources out there along these lines; let me know about them and I’ll post them.

The Center’s first exhibition, A Universe of Maps: Opening the David Rumsey Map Center, runs from today until 28 August (here’s the online version).

Previously: David Rumsey Map Center at Stanford Opens April 19.

Update: National Geographic coverage. [WMS]

Here’s a page previewing the Center. Here’s a short video:

Previously: Rumsey Donates Maps to Stanford.

Thursday, 17 March 2016, Chicago IL. In-Car Navigation Systems: A Twenty-Year Retrospective. Michael Quane, who gave a talk to the Society on in-car navigation systems in February 1996, returns for another talk “to help us understand how much has changed in the world of in-car navigation and to give us some notion of where the field might be five (or even twenty) years hence.” Chicago Map Society meeting. Ruggles Hall, The Newberry Library, 60 W Walton St, Chicago IL 60610. 5:30 PM. Donations requested.

Saturday, 19 March 2016, Richmond VA. Introduction to Antique Maps Workshop. “While examining a variety of antique map types, guest speaker Eliane Dotson will discuss map terminology, color application, printing techniques, manufacture and creation, and clues to look for to identify reproductions and forgeries. Join us to explore questions such as what you should ask or think about when looking at a map and what maps can relate to us within their broader context.” Fry-Jefferson Map Society meeting. Library of Virginia, 800 E Broad St, Richmond VA 23219. 10 AM. Free; registration required.

Tuesday, 22 March 2016, Boston MA. Missing Women, Blank Maps, and Data Voids: What Gets Counted Counts. Joni Seager, author of the State of the Women in the World Atlas (now The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World) will discuss “the persistent paucity of gender-disaggregated data.” Boston Map Society meeting. Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St, Copley Square, Boston MA 02116. Free.

Thursday, 24 March 2016, Washington DC. Watching the Apocalypse: Using GIS and Social Media to Map Refugees. The Library of Congress’s John Hessler discusses the mapping tools used to chart population movements in the face of war, humanitarian disasters and epidemics. Washington Map Society meeting. Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (Geography and Map Room, basement), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20050. 7 PM. Free.

Tuesday, 29 March 2016, Denver CO. Marie Tharp, Illustrator of a Paradigm. John Lindemann gives a talk on the woman who mapped the ocean floor. Rocky Mountain Map Society meeting. Denver Public Library (Gates Room, 5th floor), 10 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver CO 80204. 5:30 PM. Free.

Wednesday, 30 March 2016, Boston MA. The World for a King: Pierre Desceliers’ Map of 1550. “Chet Van Duzer will give an account of the large (4.4 × 7 feet) and elaborately decorated manuscript world map made by the Norman cartographer Pierre Desceliers in 1550.” Boston Map Society meeting. Boston University, Hillel House, 213 Bay State Rd, Boston MA 02215–1506. 5:30 PM. Free.

4 February, Kennebunk, ME. Dinner and lecture; Matthew Edney and Steve Spofford on “Mapping the History of Boatbuilding in Kennebunkport.” Table, 27 Western Ave, Kennebunk ME 04043. 5:00 PM. $70. [tickets]

5 February, Boston. Boston Map Society meeting. “Dr. Ron Grim, Curator of Maps at the Normal B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, will talk about these off-site maps hung at the Langham Hotel while guests taste Scotch. (Lecture is free, drinks are pay-as-consume.)” Langham Hotel, 250 Franklin St, Boston MA 02110. 5:30 PM.

6 February, Lancaster. Maps and the Landscape: Distortion and Reality, a “study day” consisting of series of lectures by various academics: Angus Winchester on “Distorted reality? Maps as Historical Evidence”; Bill Shannon on “King Arthur, Tarn Wadling and the Gough Map”; Pat Saunders on “‘Nieuwe Kaarte van’t Koninkryk Bengale’ 1726: An Influential but Unreliable Dutch Map of Bengal”; Catherine Porter on “Progress or Plagiarism? The Mapping of Early Modern Ireland”; and Graham Cooper on “Control by the Crown of Salters (Deer-Leaps) in Private Deer-Parks: New Insights from a Duchy Dispute Map of Leagram Park, 1608.” Lancaster University, Regional Heritage Centre, Lancaster LA1 4YT. 9:30 AM to 3:50 PM. £25.

18 February, Chicago. Chicago Map Society meeting. Richard Pegg on “A Chinese Map of the World (Wanguo yutu) in the Newberry Library Collection.” Ruggles Hall, The Newberry Library, 60 W Walton St, Chicago IL 60610. 5:30 PM. Donations requested.

18 February, New York. New York Map Society meeting. Field trip to Manhattan Borough President’s Map Room. A behind-the-scenes look at oversize manuscript maps held by the Manhattan Map Room led by official topographer Hector Rivera. Municipal Building (19th floor), 1 Center St, New York NY 10007 (subway: Brooklyn Bridge). 6:30 PM. RSVP mandatory (see link for details).

18 February, Washington, D.C. Washington Map Society meeting. John Rennie Short on The National Atlas. “This talk looks at the emergence of the modern national atlas in the late nineteenth century down to the present day and reflects the rise of the postcolonial, the newly independent and the recently reinvented. The talk considers a number of themes, including how the atlas depicts national landscapes, embodies national communities and condenses national debates.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (Geography and Map Room, basement), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20050. 7:00 PM. Free admission.

23 February, Cambridge. Cambridge Seminars in the History of Cartography. Dorian Gerhold on “Plans of London buildings drawn c. 1450–1720.” Emmanuel College (Gardner Room), St Andrew’s St, Cambridge CB2 3AP. 5:30 PM. Free admission.

23 February, Denver. Rocky Mountain Map Society meeting. Lorraine Sherry on “Lithuania and the Baltic States: Welcome to NATO and the Euro Zone!” Denver Public Library (Gates Room, 5th floor), 10 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver CO 80204. 5:30 PM. Free admission.

24 February, Washington, D.C. Philip Lee Phillips Map Society meeting. Curtis Melvin, creator of North Korea Uncovered, on “North Korea Uncovered: The Crowd-Sourced Mapping of the World’s Most Secret State.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (Mumford Room, 6th floor), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20050. Noon. Free admission.

25 February, London. Maps and Society lecture. Maj. Tony Keeley on “Cartography in the Sands: Mapping Oman at 1:100,000 and Fixing the Position of the Kuria Muria Islands in 1984.” Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Woburn Sq, London WC1H OAB. 5:00 PM. Free admission.

21 January, Chicago. Chicago Map Society meeting. Prof. Harry L. Stern will give a talk entitled “How Close was Captain Cook to Discovering the Northwest Passage?” Ruggles Hall, The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago IL 60610. 5:30 PM. Donations requested.

21 January, Washington, DC. Dr. Geoffrey Martin will discuss his book, American Geography and Geographers: Toward Geographical Science (Oxford University Press, 2015). The event will include “a display of related rare maps and atlases from the collections of the library’s Geography and Map Division.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building (basement room B-02), 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington DC 20050. 7:00 PM. Free admission.

26 January, New York. Andrew Kapochunas of LithuanianMaps.com will give a talk entitled “How Maps and Map Collecting Helped an Immigrant Find His Place in the World.” “Andrew will take attendees on a journey through time, beginning with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th Century, and through space, as he discusses his struggle to find his place in the world.” New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwartzman Building, South Court: Classroom A, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018. 6:30 PM. Free admission.

4 February, London. Maps and Society lecture. Dr. Kevin Sheehan will give a talk on “Construction and Reconstruction: Investigating How Portolan Maps Were Produced by Reproducing a Fifteenth-Century Chart of the Mediterranean.” Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Woburn Square, London WC1H OAB. 5:00 PM. Free admission.

4 February, Kennebunk, ME. “Mapping the History of Boatbuilding in Kennebunkport.” Dinner and lecture. “Osher Map Library’s Matthew Edney and local historian Steve Spofford will explore the interconnection beetween early maps and the rise of shipbuilding in Kennebunkport.” Table, 27 Western Avenue, Kennebunk ME 04043. 5:00 PM. $70. [tickets]

5 February, Boston. Boston Map Society meeting. “Dr. Ron Grim, Curator of Maps at the Normal B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, will talk about these off-site maps hung at the Langham Hotel while guests taste Scotch. (Lecture is free, drinks are pay-as-consume.)” Langham Hotel, 250 Franklin Street, Boston MA 02110. No time given yet.

If all goes well, this listing of upcoming talks and lectures will be a regular feature on The Map Room. If you are organizing a map-related event, or just know about one, please contact me with the details.

January 19, Washington, DC. The authors of Mapping the West with Lewis and Clark (Levenger, 2015) will discuss their book. “Ralph E. Ehrenberg, chief of the Library’s Geography and Map Division, and his co-author, Smithsonian Institution curator emeritus Herman J. Viola, retrace the expedition with more than 100 images reproduced in exquisite detail.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20050. Noon. Free admission.

January 26, New York. Andrew Kapochunas of LithuanianMaps.com will give a talk entitled “How Maps and Map Collecting Helped an Immigrant Find His Place in the World.” “Andrew will take attendees on a journey through time, beginning with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th Century, and through space, as he discusses his struggle to find his place in the world.” New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwartzman Building, South Court: Classroom A, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018. 6:30 PM. Free admission.