You Asked, We Answered: Behind the Scenes with curators of the “Mapping the World: Perspectives from Asian Cartography” exhibition

Since 2019, a team of curators, researchers, and exhibitions staff from the National Library Board (NLB) has been working tirelessly on a much-anticipated showcase. Launched to the public on 10 December 2021, “Mapping the World: Perspectives from Asian Cartography” is NLB’s latest exhibition that features over 60 cartographic treasures sourced from Asia, America and Europe.The usual logistics of importing and securing the artefacts, the curatorial research and writing would have kept the team busy enough under normal circumstances. But the curve balls thrown at them by the COVID-19 pandemic further tested their mettle, even after the initial 2020 launch target was delayed.

Curators Mr Chung Sang Hong and Ms Chia Jie Lin, who are part of the team, talk about the inspiration behind the exhibition and how they overcame pandemic-related challenges to keep the show going.

Q1: What inspired the curation of Asian cartography in the exhibition?

Sang Hong: Two French curators, Pierre Singaravélou and Fabrice Argounès, first staged an exhibition on Asian maps in Paris in 2018. They were keen to bring this exhibition to Asia and even came to Singapore in 2019 to speak with us. That was when we decided to collaborate with them and to curate the exhibition for an Asian audience. We thought that it would be fascinating to explore how different Asian civilisations across time had used maps to make sense of their countries and the world, and also to discover their world views as depicted in their maps.

To illustrate this through our exhibition, we came up with thematic sections that reveal religious cosmologies, ideas of political power, significant journeys and knowledge exchanges as told through Asian maps.

Q2: How did you decide which map to display?

●     Sang Hong: We started off by working from the artefact list shared by the French curators. It was extensive, and deciding what to bring in was highly dependent on what was possible for loan and its relevance to our Singaporean audiences. In the end, we narrowed it down to what the public sees on display now. It is still an impressive range of artefacts, with maps on ceramic ware, fans, scrolls and even cloth paintings.

My personal favourite is the Japanese world map adapted from Matteo Ricci’s world map Kunyu wanguo quantu (1602). This huge map of 3.4 by 1.7 metres is beautifully hand-drawn and coloured. It contains such rich data of the world which would have been mind-blowing to its 17th century East Asian audience.

Q3: How did the pandemic affect the planning for this exhibition? What were the main concerns?

●     Jie Lin: Most of the items in the exhibition are loaned from all over the world – including the United States, France and Japan. The uncertainties and travel restrictions due to COVID-19 made the process of bringing in these items more challenging, with some pieces requiring a physical courier to accompany the exhibits. We faced uncertainties in the loans up till November last year, just weeks before the exhibition was slated to open.

The pandemic really affected the artefacts we could select for the exhibition – some of the loans didn’t materialise in the end due to COVID-19 situations and travel restrictions in different countries. Even so, we’re glad to be able to put on display over 60 cartographic artefacts from diverse Asian traditions – maps from the Islamic world, China, India, East Asia and Southeast Asia.

One of my favourites is the Complete Geographical Map of the Everlasting Unified Qing Empire. The scrolls on show are part of a 19th-century Japanese reprint of the original 1767 map which was first presented to Emperor Qianlong by court cartographer Huang Qianren. The map offers a snapshot of how Emperor Qianlong would have envisioned his empire at the peak of his reign: Qing China dominates the heart of the map as the “Central Kingdom”, while other nations are relegated to its peripheries. I love how the use of Prussian blue makes the map so vivid and beautiful. In fact, such maps were one of the earliest examples of its use as a colourant for large-format maps in East Asia.

Q4: Let’s talk about the 15-minute virtual tour of the exhibition that can be found online. How did that come about?

●     Sang Hong: It came about because we knew we could only host a limited number of group tours up to 20 people each due to COVID-19, so we decided to produce a curator tour video. This way, the public can have a self-guided tour and listen to the curators’ narration for selected artefacts. We have actually done such videos of curator tours for a previous exhibition, “Human x Nature: Environmental Histories of Singapore”, during the pandemic. The idea is to allow people to view the exhibition by watching the videos even if they are unable to visit physically.

Besides our virtual tour, Jie Lin and I also conducted an online curator’s talk earlier in April. This was not only a good opportunity for visitors to ask us questions, but also for people who couldn’t otherwise visit the exhibition to learn about it as well.

Q5: The exhibition is slated to end in May. How do you feel about the whole experience?

●     Sang Hong: Despite all the challenges and difficulties, I’m very thankful that the exhibition turned out successfully and was very well-received by the public. We have conducted over 120 physical tours and counting. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from the public, saying that they’re fascinated by the maps. It is very rewarding and makes all the hard work worthwhile!

●     Jie Lin: It went by so fast! I’m honoured to have been able to introduce rare maps to so many people, especially since we don’t see a lot of these maps here. It’s been really fun showing visitors – who are as international as the maps themselves – around the exhibition. We had visitors from places like India and China coming to look at their own maps that depict their cultural heritage. I’m grateful for members of the public who come to learn new things, ask interesting questions, and who share insights and knowledge that wouldn’t have occurred to me if I didn’t take them around. Overall, I find myself learning new things and having great dialogues with visitors every time I conduct a tour of the exhibition.

The “Mapping the World: Perspectives from Asian Cartography” exhibition concludes on 8 May 2022. Head down to the exhibition at Level 10 of the National Library Building before then and perhaps join in one of our public tours this weekend. More information at: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/mapping-the-world-20359. You may also catch the virtual tour of the exhibition here: https://youtu.be/3RVkATpDEfc.