The Digital Atlas of Postcolonial Europe project visualizes the connections of the lives, works, and legacies of prominent postcolonial intellectuals in Europe. Emphasing connections in space and time, the application includes an interactive map and timeline, that invite users to consider the dialogue and exchange of ideas between intellectuals.

The Digital Atlas was developed for professor Sandra Ponzanesi to showcase the research from PIN, the Postcolonial Intellectuals and their European Publics Network. The DHLab was asked to develop a visualisation tool that would present information about intellectuals in an engaging way. The Atlas was launched during the final PIN conference in Venice in May 2022.

The application provides an overview of each intellectual’s life events, published works, and highlights from their legacy in the public eye. These events are presented in a way that is clear to casual (non-academic) users. These categories – life, work and legacy – aim to capture major highlights in their biography and career (birth, academic affiliations), work across different genres and media (articles, books, public lectures, media appearances, films etc.) and legacy, namely the reception, dissemination and afterlife of their work and their influence (dedicated libraries, foundations, critical reception of their work, films an documentaries, obituaries, conferences etc.).