Study Abroad: fear, control, wonder, curiosity

What is the dominating mindset of your exhistence?

 How does this relate to the people around you?

   

On my brief overnight stay in Toulouse, France, I stumbled upon Le Musée Paul Dupuy. Outside of its collection of clocks, watches, religious decorations, and ivory carvings, there was also an exhibit from the Musée Égaré. All of the art pieces in this exhibit were very thought-provoking and intriguing. My favourite section of the exhibit was a hall with huge maps by Qiu Zhijie, that represented the the world as if it was grouped by religion, philosophy, societies...etc.

// Map making is one of the fundamental ways that people have come to terms with the world around them. Through maps, the unkown is made visible and understandable...The way a map represents a land is always an indication of an attitude towards it. Fear, control, wonder, curiosity are all part of what maps can represent depending on who is making them...//

Its so interesting to think about, traveling through places with different cultures and seeing things through the eyes of other people- the world looks different to them. I might see the world one way, but to the other person there is an entirely different view and thats okay.

What I loved about the Qiu Zhijie exhibit was that he made maps not by geographical design, but by the different mentalities and states of mind that occupy the different collective consciousnesses. So very intriguing. 

Thanks, Toulouse. (pardon my lack of proper punctuation, international keyboards have not befriended me yet.)