NEWS RELEASES
Map Man - a Craftsman's Skill
25th April 2007
In an age of digital drawing, where at a click or the drag of a mouse a world can be laid out flat, Horsham Museum is pleased to celebrate the artistry and skill of the District’s own ‘Map Man’, Alan Siney. Over the course of many months, even years, Alan has redrawn the world of Horsham, Rudgwick and Southwater, laying out the complex field boundaries, roads and pathways as well as the buildings and institutions of these much loved places.
You may ask yourself why in an age that can so easily create a 2-dimensional map of a 3 dimensional world on a computer Alan has done this. It is because Alan is not working in 3D, but in fact working in the fourth Dimension – time. Alan has recreated historical maps. Furthermore Alan’s work is helping to preserve some of the most important maps of these towns and villages ever produced.
The exhibition ‘Map Man’ opens on 4th May 2007 in Horsham Museum’s Hurst Room. This is the first time copies of Alan’s maps have been displayed. There will also be an account of the remarkable way Alan has created these maps. Take, for example, the 1812 Enclosure Award for Horsham where the original vellum map is difficult to read and use. Alan had the map photographed and then enlarged each section of the map working out the minute differences any cockle of the vellum would cause in the scale. He then traced out by hand every feature and aspect of that section before moving on to the next. After months of painstaking copying and redrawing, checking and altering, Alan then combined the sections together making adjustments for the discrepancies caused by the photocopier. Only then was Alan happy. The final stage of the process was the task of checking it both with the original and with the copy in the West Sussex Record Office. Only after this exacting comparison was confirmed would the map pass Alan’s eye for quality and detail.
So, if you want to see a true craftsman’s work and admire the skill and dedication of a self taught map maker then this is an exhibition you won’t want to miss.
Editors: Please note Alan Siney will be available on Friday 4th May at 10am for photographs.
For further information please contact
Jeremy Knight, Curator.
Horsham Museum
9 Causeway
Horsham
West Sussex
RH12 1HE
Tel: (01403) 254959
Fax: (01403) 282594
Email: museum@horsham.gov.uk
Web: http://www.horshammuseum.org/
Exhibitions currently on display at Horsham Museum feature Scouting, The Abolition of Slavery and Hogarth - Up Close and Personal