Benjamin Pollach has started a riveting project, called the 'World Map Archive', that aims to show how our regional locations influence our individual perceptions about seemingly universal ideas.
The on-going crowd-sourcing project is reportedly the "first of its kind." It involves the collection of hand-drawn maps that are sourced from all over the world, with the ambitious aim of archiving a unique map from "every global citizen."
The project started out small. Pollach asked his friends to draw maps of the world, without any reference material (i.e. strictly no Google-ing allowed). The simple request spread from friend to friend of friend and before he knew it, Pollach started realizing that he was collecting distinct trends in regional perceptions.
Commenting on his project, Pollach mentioned that the World Map Archive reveals the unique perceptions of individuals across the world and how they perceive themselves in a global context.
For example, he has observed that, "almost every European draws Europe way too big in comparison to Africa and has no clue about Asia."
Furthermore, many participants from Europe insist that "Italy has to be in the map—no matter what."
Over in Asia, participants hailing from India and Bangladesh draw Europe "in little detail," with the "exception of the United Kingdom," thereby possibly revealing the role of "colonial legacies" in perceptions from the aforesaid region of the world.
Here are some unique perspectives for you to peruse:
['The World Map Archive' will show from 1 June 2013, at THE WYE in Berlin, Germany. You can contribute your World Map at here.]
[via Coolhunting.com, images via Benjamin Pollach / World Map Archive]