Queensland historical atlas: histories, cultures, landscapes

Queensland historical atlas: histories, cultures, landscapes

The Queensland Historical Atlas is the most significant collection of work to be published on the Queensland landscape that both looks to the future as well as the past. It is envisioned within a new framework – one that speaks to both a specialist and general reader.
Fourteen new themes ranging from conflict to curiosity to pleasure take the reader on a fresh and unpredictable journey through the Queensland landscape. Fourteen evocative fabric designs by artist Olive Ashworth (from the collections of the Queensland museum) illuminate each theme and give each a distinctive colour, tone and texture.

The Atlas is bold in both presentation and conceptualisation. Eschewing new cartography, the Atlas utilises hundreds of maps from Queensland and Australia's history to anchor the stories, and to examine the importance of spatial resources in the Queensland landscape.

The Queensland Historical Atlas positions Queensland at the forefront of new directions in the atlas form – where new technology facilitates the intimate and convenient examination of maps for the first time. No longer does the map need to be spread out on a table, hung on a wall or condensed and rendered illegible by the printed page. Instead it can be put under the microscope of 'zoomify' to reveal new details and nuances.

But more important than examination through technology, this Atlas aims to critically examine maps as constructed documents. Their intrinsic truth relies on the motivations of those who commission, produce and publish them. All maps can be contested. In map-making context is all. Why, by whom and for whom have these maps of Queensland been made? The answers to these questions are part of the purpose of this historical atlas.

For all its size and complexity – the Atlas already features the work of over 100 contributors and over 250,000 words, together with hundreds of maps and images – the Atlas never attempts to be comprehensive, for such a task is an impossibility. Rather it provides a refreshed insight into the central importance of the Queensland landscape in the State's history.

© The State of Queensland (Queensland Museum) 2010.
The Queensland Museum retains ownership of all material on this site unless otherwise specifically stated. Permission is granted to copy material owned by the Queensland Museum under the terms of the Copyright Act 1968 (as amended) and in accordance with fair dealing provisions; provided that the content is not altered and the source is acknowledged.