Details
Age group: All ages.
Available: All year, Mondays and Thursdays.
Length: 90 minutes. Please allow more time after your workshop to explore the galleries and public spaces.
Group size: minimum of 10 participants.
Key Skills
Geography, History, Citizenship, Fine Art and Design
Workshop outline
This workshop focuses on the British Library's rich collection of maps. Participants will explore maps, not simply as objective geographic documents, but also as historical objects that carry evidence of social, political and navigational thought. Through practical activities and creative research, students will uncover the layers of meaning contained within the maps themselves.
The workshop starts with fun drawing activities that explore the possibilities, limitations and consequences of diverse methods of mapping. Moving to the gallery space, we'll discuss the repercussions of the decisions a cartographer makes during the map-making process. Participants will make maps that relate to their own lives, and use their imaginations to map from other people's perspectives.
By investigating selected maps in the Ritblat Gallery and questioning the process by which they are made, students will build an understanding of the way mapping, surveying, planning and plotting can be, and have been, used to identify, analyse and present solutions to social problems. They will also investigate the ways that maps have been used to support arguments for particular viewpoints or vested interests. Maps will be revealed as objects of beauty as well as important stores of knowledge that continuously influence the way we live.
NEW - We are now able to offer groups the opportunity to meet with Peter Barber, the British Library's Curator of Maps. During this 15 minute session, participants will be able to see and handle more maps from the British Library's collection and further explore the themes of the workshop with a leading expert.
Pre-visit activities
Discuss the following subjects:
What are maps, how do we use them, when do we need them? Think about the maps you use often. What kind of information do they include, what do they exclude? Do they all look the same?
Locate different maps in your school or local area. See how many different kinds you can find and what they are for. How do their functions influence the way they look?
Post-visit activities
On your journey home from the Library, pay attention to the route and to important landmarks or sites. At school, make a map from memory of the journey home. Compare your maps and see how they are similar and different. Why is this? Would someone be able to find their way to the British Library using your map?
Create a map of your neighbourhood which shows how you would like it to look. What do you include, what do you make a big deal out of and what do you leave out? How can you make it as attractive as possible?
Explore more about maps in our online resource, Mapping History, which includes fascinating digitised material and fun activities.
How to book
Our How to Book page has further information about our booking process. To make your booking or for further information about our workshops, please contact the Learning Team on +44 (0)20 7412 7797 or email us at leaning@bl.uk.
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