Hand Drawn Map Association
The Hand Drawn Map Association (HDMA) is an ongoing collection of maps and diagrams drawn by hand.
The Hand Drawn Map Association (HDMA) is an ongoing collection of maps and diagrams drawn by hand. The vast majority of the collection features maps people draw to provide directions from one place to another. These maps often reveal an interesting and individualized vision of a place but are frequently discarded after use. We rescue these pieces of ephemera, archive them, and present them to the public via the handmaps.org website. Since the project began, our collection has grown to not only include these simple, scribbled maps but also a vast array of creative interpretations of place. From individuals who construct fictional maps of intricate, imagined worlds, to artists who use maps or diagrams as a creative device, to works by amateur and professional cartographers, our collection has become a unique presentation of works on paper representing the world around us.