THE MAP OF SMELL

Cartography is considered as the science of preparing all types of maps and charts and includes every operation from original survey to final printing of maps (United Nations 1949, cited in Freitag 1993).

Cartography is the art, science and technology of making maps, together with their study as scientific documents and works of art (I.C.A in Meynen 1973).

Cartography is the discipline dealing with the conception, production, dissemination and study of maps (I.C.A. in Anonymous 1992).

From the above definitions we can see how varied the perception of Cartography has been. Cartographers around the world are finding new ways to depict and study the maps. In the modern world graphic designers, painters, print makers and others are getting indulged into cartography.

In a research paper Cartography as an Art and a Science? Krygier has studied the dualism( art/science) as a means of understanding cartography and also the design, aesthetics and visual language of cartography.

Image Source: SELF

The above image is a sensory mapping done by the researcher, of the areas around National Institute of Fashion and Technology, to get a sense of the different street and store smells around. This activity was fun as the researcher got a chance to observe the street from the perception of smell as a parameter. Often, we just pass through the streets and areas without observing the little things which gives it their unique identity.

The human sense of smell is not very strong as compared to other creatures but is still very acute. The sense of smell is strongly connected to the emotions. In surveys on reactions to odors, responses show that many of our olfactory likes and dislikes are based purely on emotional association (Kate Fox, 1999). A lot of people think it is an invention of poets or perfume makers. but that is not true. Our olfactory receptors are directly connected to the seat of emotion that is the limbic system which is the most ancient part of our brain.

Smell has a social and cultural connections apart from the biological and psychological experiences. The current low status of smell in the West is a result of the ‘revaluation of the senses’ by philosophers and scientists of the 18th and 19th centuries (Kate Fox, 1999). Although in many non-western cultures smell has been considered as the most important sense. For the Ongee of the Andaman Islands, the universe and everything in it is defined by smell. Their calendar is constructed on the basis of the odours of flowers which come into bloom at different times of the year. Each season is named after a particular odour, and possesses its own distinctive ‘aroma-force’. Personal identity is also defined by smell – to refer to oneself, one touches the tip of one’s nose, a gesture meaning both ‘me’ and ‘my odour’ (Kate Fox. 1999).

There are times when we are travelling to a new place we recognize places or streets with the sense of smell. The nostalgia has a key role in sense of smell as well. We tend to connect our memories or flashbacks with certain sense of smell. All the dadi ghars and nani ghars had a certain connection with our sense of smell. The idea here is inspired by an English graphic designer McLean who uses smell as one of the medium of sensory cartography.

REFERENCES:

Krygier, J., 1998. Cartography as an Art and a Science?. Cartographic Journal, 32/6, 3-10

Batty, Clare, 2009. What’s That Smell?. Southern Journal of Philosophy, VLVII, 321-348.

Meynen, E. 1973. Multilingual Dictionary of Technical Terms in Cartography. Stuttgart: International Cartographic Association.

“The Smell Report - The Human Sense of Smell.” Social Research - Social Trends Analysis,

Krygier, J. 1994. "Geography and Hypermedia." manuscript.