Such beautiful maps!
David Garcia, teacher of Geography 1 (Places and Landscapes in a changing world), collected these drawings of the Philippine map made by his students a few years back. He asked them to sketch from memory to be able to “explore their different mental maps” and find out why they sketched them in those particular ways.
Each drawing was informed by each student’s experience with the country, where they were able to travel, and how often they met others from other parts of the Philippines. It’s an interesting exercise for sure!
They were laughing when they saw it because it’s really interesting how we assume that another person thinks of the “same place” in a same way. Apparently we have different places in our heads.
Years ago, I asked my students to sketch PH from memory. “The nation is an imagined community” – Ben Anderson. The PH map will never be complete, & we’ve got to “stay woke”. How’s our patriotism defined, & who benefits from & is hurt by that? Happy Independence Day, my love. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/6nTXLp4AjH
— Mapmaker (@mapmakerdavid) June 12, 2018
I quoted Benedict Anderson because of his concept of the nation as an “imagined community”. Nation-building is a continuous process, and the nation, it’s borders, culture, etc. will neither be fixed, frozen, nor complete. 🙂 It is up to us how we will define, negotiate, realise, and struggle for a “better Philippines”. My hope is that all of us can benefit from such project without hurting others, and not just a few.
These are wonderful approximations that speak volumes about how we perceive our own nation and interact with our fellow Filipinos. Truly, there’s no place like home!
Follow David here: https://facebook.com/mapmakerdavid and https://mapmakerdavid.com
Would you have sketched something similar? Let us know!
