An astonishing hand-drawn map that was the painstaking creation of a Wollongong man has found a prestigious forever-home at the State Library of NSW.
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Cartographer Alex Pescud spent 500 hours crafting The Wollongong Map, which takes its inspiration from the incredibly detailed birds-eye maps of yesteryear.
He took hundreds of photographs of his home city, bending or tilting different "cells" so their contents were laid out flat and combined into what he called "the impossible view" - an inviting amalgamation of aspects that doesn't exist in real life.
Having completed the map in April 2023, Mr Pescud made limited and open edition prints available for sale, always pledging to donate the original to an institution so it would "go on and become something to others".
Mr Pescud told the Mercury he didn't hesitate to say 'yes' when he was recently contacted by the acquisitions teams at the State Library of NSW.
"What an amazing opportunity. It's super humbling to know they think something I've done is relevant," he told the Mercury, adding he hadn't found it difficult to part with the A0-sized piece of paper he had spent so many hours on.
"I sat with it for a year, but in a way the important thing to me is that if someone looks at the map and they have a feeling of their own engagement with Wollongong. The map is kind of like a thought-starter.
"The whole reason for drawing the map was to make sure it inspired someone to draw something or do something creative with their life. It's not such an out-of-reach thing for someone to be creative and create interesting things."
With his school teacher mother, Kelly Cumming, Mr Pescud this month visited the map's new home and poured over an 1887 equivalent map of Wollongong that is also held by the library.
His work will be kept in the stacks of an underground, climate-controlled room.
He likes to know that the map remains accessible - when someone wants to see it, they need only attend the library and ask.
"I wasn't keen on having it locked away. The staff will go in and get it and you can look at it on the table right there," he said.
Also acquired by the library was a detailed journal written by Mr Pescud, showing the person and the process behind the work.
In it, he refers to his map as an example of "what you can achieve with persistence and patience".
"I believe that you have the ability to create amazing things if you believe in yourself," he writes.
Having moved house - from Thirroul to Port Kembla - in the year since finishing his map, Mr Pescud has also been devoting himself to his day job - digital mapping projects for his newly established business.
But he says he is always on the lookout for his next creative side project - however big or small it may turn out to be.
Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
