24 Jun 2025
14:00 - 17:00
Mapping Workshop: Subjective Cartography of the Dutch border
On 24 June, Framer Framed hosts the mapping workshop Where is the Dutch border? Subjective Cartography of the Dutch border by designer and researcher Annelys de Vet and Professor of Geopolitics and Political Geography Henk van Houtum. The standard ‘design’ of the Dutch borderline is often seen as a self-evident representation. Yet this abstract form in no way reflects the geographical, social, and political reality. How can we rethink and redesign the representation of the multiplicity of Dutch borders, based on personal experiences and broader geopolitical reflections?
Political refugees, for example, experience borders on very different levels than normative maps suggest. And beyond its official boundaries, the Netherlands is geographically present through its embassies, trade interests, arms exports, as well as its presence in seas and waterways. How do individuals living at these geographic edges encounter the political construct of “the Netherlands”? What alternative graphic representations can we develop that do justice to the diversity and complexity of their experiences? Through cartographic workshops, we aim to visually reflect on how the Netherlands is outlined in the world, and for whom the Dutch border is drawn where.
The first workshop will take place at Framer Framed and focuses on designers and artists with a migration background, whether or not they have papers. This one-afternoon session brings together people in the creative sector who are trying to secure or express their position in the Netherlands—and who, each in their own way, have hit hard against its borders. How can we visualise these (often invisible) boundaries?
Participants will be guided in visualising their perspectives through drawing, writing, symbols, maps, and other visual tools. The methodology we follow is rooted in the practice of the Subjective Atlases, in which a region is mapped from the inside out through participatory design workshops. Instead of striving for so-called neutral and factual representations of a place, subjective cartography focuses on the personal experiences, perspectives, and emotions of people with a direct relationship to a location. Its multiple mappings reveal socio-political dynamics and emphasise stories and experiences that fall outside conventional policy documents. This type of map recognises that geography, as well as borders, are not only physical but socially, culturally, and emotionally shaped.
This workshop is in English and admission is free. Places are limited so please register here.
This mapping workshop is hosted by Annelys de Vet as part of the participatory, design-oriented research on the relational geography of the Dutch borderlands ‘Where is the Dutch border?’ by Prof Dr Henk van Houtum, supported by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie.
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Citizenship / Digital commons & democracy / Migration / Political Climate / Workshop /
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Henk van Houtum
Professor, Writer
