Off the Map #2 at AINSI
With writer Philip Dröge about Moresnet, a musical experiment by Daan Soenens and his band, some nutopian imagining by graphic designer Floor Koomen and journalist Jorie Horsthuis about her visit to the Strait of Hormuz. And as always, a nerdy quiz by researcher Suzanne Hendriks.
Suzanne Hendriks | 15 Apr 2026
Off the Map at LUX Nijmegen
On March 24th, we were at LUX Nijmegen. With a mini-lecture by border professor Henk van Houtum and music by harpist Jareach Gilula. Journalist Jorie Horsthuis talked about Nagorno-Karabakh and graphic designer Floor Koomen had a presentation about how geopolitics sometimes play out on the square centimeter. And of course, there was a nerdy quiz by researcher Suzanne Hendriks with some legit flag waving.
Suzanne Hendriks | 30 Mar 2026
Globalicious
Get lost in a lovely in Around the world in 200 Globes, a new publication of Luster by Willem Jan Neutelings. This book is a world in itself, with each highlighted globe telling its own story, whether it’s about trends, materials, political borders and scientific frontiers in the 20th century. A must for our readership.
Suzanne Hendriks | 24 May 2025
Struggles on Stamps–West-Papua
Struggles about states are usually accompanied by discussions, diplomatic rows, border issues, threats and sometimes even full-blown wars. But if you take the time to zoom in, you will find that these struggles also tend to unfold on tiny pieces of paper – stamps, the smallest expression of self determination.
Jan Heijs Suzanne Hendriks | 30 Dec 2024
Mapping Modernity
Mapping Modernity is an exhibition at the Design Museum in Den Bosch (The Netherlands). It has been compiled of 250 maps, so make sure you eat a ‘Bossche bol’ beforehand and take your time to visit this exhibition and take in all the depictions of power and control the maps display.
Suzanne Hendriks | 11 Jan 2024
Fortuitous Lines
Borders create paradoxes: when you cross them, everything changes but much stays the same. In Borderlands, Dutch journalist Milo van Bokkum describes this paradox and the way locals deal with the complexities caused by these often arbitrarily drawn lines.
Jorie Horsthuis | 20 Mar 2022
People, Power and Influence
The development of both Donetsk and Transnistria have a strong tendency to be seen as vessels for Russia’s search for influence in a Post-Soviet world. Yet these states are just as much the result of local context and the geopolitical storm that surrounds them. However, whatever the causes of their tribulations, the burden of international abandonment falls on the people in these nations.
Jonathan Casewell | 20 Oct 2021
Across the Strait
Many Hong Kong citizens and opposition politicians look to Taiwan as a place to escape China’s growing influence. However, there is less desire for independence or to become a new Taiwan. The crux of Hong Kong’s issues lies in its confused identity and awkward geopolitical position.
Jonathan Casewell | 21 Jan 2021