500 years ago, a long-dreamed-of human journey began in Seville: to reach the mythical Orient from the unexplored side of the world. This voyage started by Ferdinand Magellan in 1519 would turn into the greatest maritime adventure in history: the first round-the-world voyage completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano and the men of the ship Victoria in 1522. A key journey in the history of exploration, a journey that forever changed the world.
By bringing the exhibition project The Longest Voyage to EuroCarto 2022 and the Technische Universität Wien, the Spanish Embassy in Austria wants to commemorate the 5th centenary of the first round-the-world voyage. The exhibition has the objective of disseminating the importance of this journey in universal history and paying tribute to man’s exploratory spirit and his attitude to the unknown.
Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano’s great challenge was to circumnavigate the world crossing an unknown sea sometimes by looking at the stars, taking advantage of the sea currents and using elementary geometric methods. The circumnavigation of the world would allow a broader scientific knowledge of the Earth, it ratified that the Earth was round and led to the first representation of the Pacific Ocean in maps.
Some cartographic works that reflect the results of the first circumnavigation of the Earth are the planispheres of Castiglioni and Salvati; the oval map 10, attributed to Battista Agnese (1514-1564), and the World Map (1523), by Americo Vespucci, where the Strait of Magellan is already mapped, although the name is not specified.
The Longest Voyage reflects on mankind’s attitude towards travel and the unknown by connecting the first round-the-world voyage in history with the individual challenges of the present and the collective challenges of the future. The dream of doing, the value of departing, the experience of voyaging and the fullness of returning are emotional aspects common to all exploratory journeys, and the discourse of the exhibition is built upon them. The show is designed as a great conceptual map which visitors will traverse guided by the testimony of its protagonists. Moreover, some panels contain QR codes for the visitor to enjoy additional multimedia information to complement the graphic content.
In cooperation with:
- Acción Cultural Española AC/E
- Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)
- Ministry of Culture and Sport. Government of Spain
- Subdirectorate-General for State Archives
The exhibition is free of charge and displayed from the 19th to the 21st of September at the conference venue.