About us
The Brussels Map Circle, previously the Brussels International Map Collectors' Circle (BIMCC)
Founded 1998 as a non-profit association under Belgian law.
Company identification No 0464.423.627.
For purely practical reasons, the Circle has adopted English as its working language.
Participants are, however, free to express themselves in any language.
Themes of the international conferences and study sessions:
- Mapping Ukraine, 3 December 2022
- Mapping the World, the Belgian contribution, 38th IMCoS International Symposium, 11–14 October 2021, Brussels, hosted by the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) and the Brussels Map Circle (BIMCC)
- Mapping Africa, in Tervuren (Belgium), 7 December 2020
- Early maps of Indonesia, 9 December 2017
- Globes and instruments, 10 December 2016
- Mapping the Ottoman Empire, 12 December 2015
- Mapping in times of war - Military cartography through the ages up to World War I, 6 December 2014
- Mapping India, 7 December 2013
- Mercator and Hondius 8 December 2012
- Brazil in early maps, 10 December 2011
- China, 11 December 2010
- Exploratory Cartography, from Heaven to Earth, 5 December 2009
- On ancient cartography, 13 December 2008
- Formatting Europe - Mapping a Continent, 16 November 2007. The proceedings of the conference as well as two essays by invited map historians have been published in the Belgian Journal of Geography (BELGEO), issue 2008|3-4)
- Charting the Seas - Seven centuries of maritime cartography, 9 December 2006
- Belgian Cartography - 16th to 19th century, 10 December 2005
- Into and Out of Africa - Mapping the dark continent in the later 19th century, 11 December 2004
- Plans and views of towns and fortified places, 13 December 2003
- Mare Nostrum - Maps of the Mediterranean, 14 December 2002
- Cartography with a purpose: maps for strategies in times of war and peace, 23 February 2002
- Books on maps: reference works and carto-bibliographies, 17 February 2001
- From the Low Countries to the High Seas: Dutch maps from the Age of discoveries, 9 December 2000
- Understanding maps: on map construction, scale, accuracy, symbols, etc., 19 February 2000
- Ortelius commemorated, 12 December 1998
- Conservation, restoration and archiving of old maps and atlases, 20-21 February 1998
Excursions made to:
- Ghent, Guided visit of the exhibition Wondrous Voyage, 5 March 2022
- Brussels, The painted landscape of Pieter Pourbus, lecture by Jan Trachet, 6 February 2020
- Zuid-Holland, Visit to Collection HEK, 18 May 2019
- Brussels, Guided visit of the exhibition Pictura Loquens, 24 March 2019
- Antwerp, The Brussels Map Circle 20th anniversary, at the Museum Plantin-Moretus, 1 December 2018.
- Arlon and Luxembourg, visit to the Archives de l’État in Arlon, the Archives Nationales de Luxembourg in Luxembourg, the Musée Dräi Eechelen in Luxembourg and the Musée Gaspar in Arlon under the theme Arlon 1839: when Luxembourg was last cut to pieces, 26 and 27 May 2018
- Den Haag, visit to the Wereld van de VOC exhibition, 6 May 2017
- Rome, Academia Belgica, lectures and visits to various map collections in the 'città eterna', 4-8 May 2016
- Antwerp, MAS | Museum aan de Stroom, 9 May 2015
- Bruges, Brugge Cultuur bibliotheek and Openbare Bibliotheek, 18 February 2014
- Historical week-end in French Hainault, Bibliothèque de Valenciennes, guides visit of Le Quesnoy fortifications, 19-20 October 2013
- Sint Niklaas, Mercator Digitaal exhibition, 2 June 2012
- Gent, visit to the exhibition Liber Floridus, 8 October 2011
- Middelburg, Zeeuws Archief, 29 October 2010
- Knokke-Heist, Sincfala, Museum van de Zwinstreek, 17 October 2009
- Leiden University Library, Bodel Nyenhuis Map Collection, 24 October 2008
- Brussels, National Geographic Institute, 21 September 2007
- Utrecht, Map Room of the University Library, 13 October 2006
- Bitburg, Dr. Tomasz Niewodniczański, 1 October 2005
- Brussels, Rare Books Section of the Royal Library of Belgium, 29 October 2004
- Private collections in Hasselt, 12 October 2002, and Halle, 18 October 2003
- Rotterdam, Maritiem Museum Rotterdam, 6 October 2001
- Paris, Map Room of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 6 October 2000
- Lillo (near Antwerp), Maps of the banks of the Scheldt, Antwerp and its fortifications, 3 October 1999
- Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, Mercatormuseum, 21 February 1999
- Antwerp, Plantin-Moretus Museum, 13 December 1998
- Brussels, Map Room of the Royal Library of Belgium, 12 December 1998
- Bruges, The Pourbus wall map of the Brugse Vrije, 10 October 1998
Newsletters and Maps in History magazines issued (up to September 2022): 74