What's Your Map?

In this episode, Jerry is joined by Adam Lowe, founder of Factum Arte and the Factum Foundation. Factum is a pioneering digital media studio, working to record, preserve, and restore cultural heritage - particularly where it is in a fragile state.

Adam’s map is Factum’s re-creation of the world map produced by Muhammad Al-Idrisi for King Roger II of Sicily in the 12th century. The map is two metres wide, and made from pure silver.

While this astonishing object was lost to history, Al-Idrisi also produced the famous Book of Roger: an atlas containing a circular world map. Using this precious document and other historical resources, Adam and his team crafted the full-size silver disc based on meticulous research, bringing us as close as possible to the legendary lost map.

To see a high-definition image of the map as it is discussed, go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/adam-lowe

In What’s Your Map? we speak to people who live, love and work with maps -  making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it. 

Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3. 

What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch 

Instagram: @oculimundimaps
Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/ 

Image © Factum Arte

All views and opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are entirely their own and do not represent those of The Sunderland Collection or Whistledown Productions. 

 In this episode, our host Jerry Brotton is joined by writer and pioneering LBGTQ+ rights activist Roz Kaveney.  Roz is best known for her cultural critiques, poetry, fantasy writing, and editing. 

From Tolkien's draft map of Rohan from The Lord of the Rings, Jerry and Roz launch into a discussion about the importance of fantasy, adventure, and never giving up – no matter the odds and no matter the times that we live in. 

To read more information about the map as it is discussed, go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/roz-kaveney

Roz is a regular contributor to the Guardian and The Times Literary Supplement and a core member of the Midnight Rose collective, which produced fantasy anthologies for Penguin Books. Among other works, she edited Tales from The Forbidden Planet and its sequel. Her novel Tiny Pieces of Skull won the 2016 Best Trans Fiction Lambda Literary Award. In 1972, as part of its TV/TS Drag Queen Group, Roz co-authored the ‘trans manifesto’ published by the UK Gay Liberation Front, and was part of the first London Pride march.

 
In this episode we are joined by Peter Barber, the former head of the British Library's map rooms, which hold more than 4.5 million maps!  Peter is one of the world's foremost experts on European cartography.  He has curated numerous exhibitions, and has written extensively on the history of maps. 

 Exploring a heart-shaped world map created in 1544 by Gemma Frisius, Jerry and Peter unveil the hidden messages from the map maker, who lived at a time of huge upheaval and war. They also revisit Peter's personal history with the fascinating world of maps.

 To view the map while listening to this episode, please visit https://oculi-mundi.com/peter-barber

What's Your Map? is an Oculi Mundi Exploration. Oculi Mundi is the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases.

In this series, we speak to people who live, love and work with maps -  making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it. 

Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3. 

What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch 

Instagram: @oculimundimaps
Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/ 

Image © The Sunderland Collection

All views and opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are entirely their own and do not represent those of The Sunderland Collection or Whistledown Productions. 

In this second episode of What’s Your Map? host and map historian Jerry Brotton is joined by Dwayne Fields, the first Black Briton to reach the magnetic North Pole. 

Through a map printed in the Times of London in 1909, they recount another journey by African American explorer Matthew Henson, who reputedly was the first person to reach the North Pole back in 1909. 

To see a high-definition image of the map as it’s discussed, go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/dwayne-fields

Dwayne Fields has many impressive titles: Arctic explorer, BBC presenter and now the UK's Chief Scout. As an adventurer, maps are vital to Dwayne, and so is the story of Matthew Henson, who was able to withstand harsh racism and Arctic winds to make it to the top of the world.

What's Your Map? is an Oculi Mundi Exploration. Oculi Mundi is the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases.

In this series, we speak to people who live, love and work with maps -  making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it. 

Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3. 

What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch 

Instagram: @oculimundimaps
Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/ 

Image © The Times Archive

All views and opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are entirely their own and do not represent those of The Sunderland Collection or Whistledown Productions. 

Welcome to the first episode of What’s Your Map? where host Jerry Brotton is joined by historian William Dalrymple, who unfurls a beautiful Jain cosmological map to explore the meaning and history of the ancient Indian religion.

To see a high-definition image of the map as it’s discussed, please go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/william-dalrymple 

William untangles Jain beliefs through their cosmological map of the universe. He recounts his visit to a Jain temple where he bore witness to heartbreak and ritual death. 

What's Your Map? is an Oculi Mundi Exploration. Oculi Mundi is the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases.

In this series, we speak to people who live, love and work with maps -  making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it. 

Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3. 

William Dalrymple’s new book The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World (Bloomsbury) is out now. 

What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch 

Instagram: @oculimundimaps
Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/

Image © The Sunderland Collection

All views and opinions expressed by guests on the podcast are entirely their own and do not represent those of The Sunderland Collection or Whistledown Productions.