​The international conference “Early Modern Nautical Charts: Information Sources, Navigation Means, and Communication Media,"  organised by the University of Zadar and the Croatian Cartographic Society, was conducted in the Research Library of Zadar and online between May 23rd and 24th, 2024. The conference discussed early modern nautical charts as an important form of cartographic expression and as communication media focused on the sea areas, islands, and the mainland coast and aimed to bring together scholars from various fields related to the history of cartography and navigation to present their latest research achievements and discuss the scientific importance of their work. The conference was an integral part of the scientific project IP-2020-02-5339, Early Modern Nautical Charts of the Adriatic Sea: Information Sources, Navigation Means and Communication Media (NACHAS) funded by the Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ).

 

The conference programme consisted of 12 oral presentations that were divided into three moderated sessions (comprised of four presentations each) and a keynote speech that was presented by Professor Georg Gartner, the current president of the International Cartographic Association (ICA). The conference also included an exhibition of old nautical charts and pilots entitled “Navigation Using Images and Writings",  co-organised by the Research Library of Zadar and the State Archives in Zadar.

 

During the first day (Thursday, May 23rd), two sessions were organized. The morning session started with Julijan Sutlović’s presentation about early modern nautical charts of the Adriatic Sea as a medium of communication. In addition, Dubravka Mlinarić explained how the artistic elements on nautical charts of the Adriatic Sea were used for communication purposes, while Josip Faričić talked about the religious symbolism on old nautical charts of the Adriatic Sea. The final presentation of the morning session was made by Palmira Krleža Lovrić, whose topic was the differences between medieval and early modern iconographies in the cartographic representations of the Adriatic region. The first presenter of the afternoon session was Dragan Umek, who talked about how Venetian cartography was used throughout the centuries, spanning from its navigational usage to its usage as a symbol of political power. Iva Katarina Vukičević presented and described nautical charts of the Adriatic Sea that were published by the United Kingdom’s Hydrographic Office and are now in the possession of the Croatian History Museum, while in continuation, Milorad Pavić talked about the navigational credibility of the maps of the Adriatic Sea that were published within the sixteenth century isolarii. The third presentation was conducted by Filip Lovrić, in which he demonstrated how the islands were commonly depicted on maps during the early modern period in terms of their geographical and social features and how those depictions helped form contemporary mindscapes. On the evening of the first day, an exhibition of old nautical charts and pilots that was opened for the general public for a week was officially opened.

 

The second day of the conference (Friday, May 24th) started with Georg Gartner’s keynote lecture, in which he showcased the importance of maps and cartography in general, both through history and in the present day, and talked about how the history of cartography represented one of the founding pillars for the establishment of the ICA in 1959. In its second part, he was accompanied by Angeliki Tsorlini, the current vice chair of the ICA's Commission on Cartographic Heritage into the Digital, who joined the conference online and provided additional information regarding the ICA and the history of cartography. The morning session of the second day and the third session in total started with Miljenko Lapaine’s presentation, in which he explained the mathematical and navigational elements within Pedro de Medina’s treatise Arte de Navegar (The Art of Navigation), which was originally published in 1545. In the second speech, Okan Büyüktapu presented how the Adriatic region was mapped by the Ottomans before the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), while in the third speech, Luca Fois showed the varieties of coastal toponyms related to the Horn of Africa, inscribed on maps and charts made between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The last presentation was held by Tome Marelić, who talked about the importance of cartometric analyses for studies related to the history of cartography and the significance of the contemporary historical context in terms of objective interpretations of the result.​​​​