Kaart van de eilanden Halmahera, Ternate en overige eilanden in de Molukse Zee en Zee van Halmahera 1854

This is F. Cronenberg's map of Halmahera, Ternate, and the Moluccan Sea. Cartography is the act of visually symbolizing power and dominance by charting new lands, and asserting control over territories and resources. Consider the image of a map, a symbol of exploration and control. The act of mapping is not merely a scientific endeavor, but a cultural and psychological assertion. We can draw parallels with the ancient practice of creating cosmologies, as seen in medieval mappa mundi. These world maps placed the known world in a structured, often religiously symbolic framework. The blank spaces on the map can be psychologically potent, inviting projections of fear, desire, and the unknown. Similarly, in psychoanalysis, the "dark continent" of the unconscious beckons exploration and understanding. These maps are not merely geographical tools, but cultural artifacts loaded with historical, psychological, and symbolic meaning. In our collective memory, this desire for mapping and orienting ourselves transcends time.