ReVilna is a digital mapping project that narrates the stories of how life was like in the Ghetto. Using sources from documents, artifacts, photos etc., points were marked on the map based off of the location stated in the sources’ content.
One of the main reasons why I chose this map, other than its incredible aesthetics, was the concept of storytelling. The site has a play function telling stories based on a topic of one’s choice. Once a story is selected, points are highlighted on the map that correlate to the story as it is being told on the left sidebar. This map reminds me of illustrations used in books to enhance a story. So in a way, this map serves as an illustration that enhances the story being told through the site.
This map draws from the perspectives of those who are narrating the lives of the people living in the ghetto. Although it is true that the map is seen through the eyes of those who have recorded all the information in the ghetto, the true authors of this map should be the people in the ghetto themselves. After all, it is their lives that allow for the existence of the map in the first place.
The map has exposed the type of neighborhood that exists within the ghetto area. For example, there are a lot of health related points located evenly throughout the area. The large amount of health related points imply that the need for medical attention is high in this area. Another example would be the industry points on the map which are concentrated more towards the south of the highlighted area. This can imply that most people in the ghetto probably go to work in the south.
Although this map can tell us a lot, there are some flaws in it. The play function and the site’s ability to move from one point to the next within a certain timeframe provide the potential for storytelling, however, there doesn’t seem to be a story being told. Maybe there is a story and I can’t see it, but the play function, which I thought functions as a start to a story, seems to only serve as a function that starts a timer to a slideshow of random events that occurred in the Ghetto. So that was misleading and a little disappointing.