Terra Incognita

This exhibition features early printed accounts of exploration and cultural encounters between what is known as the Old World or Europe and the New World or the Americas.

The people on both sides of these encounters viewed those that they met through screens of culture and how they perceived the world, including myths, legends, and religious beliefs. Both sides often had to reconfigure and rebuild their idea of the world with this new knowledge. The results yielded much knowledge and discovery, but also misunderstanding, fear, and violent attempts to control various groups.