In the wake of disaster, maps play many roles, shaping understanding of the event in the immediate aftermath, serving as visceral portrayals for those who were not there, and communicating both scale and extent of the tragedy. They gavanize support for rebuilding by showing new possible futures and can be used to memorialize the event, inscribing the memory over the landscape. Drawing upon sources from historical representations to contemporary satellite imagery, the maps in this exhibition explore various ways communities use maps to make sense of calamity and move forward from it.
The exhibition was curated by Stanford student Muhammad Dhafer, winner of the 2024 California Map Society student exhibition competition.
More information here.Venue: David Rumsey Map Center