NORWICH.- For the first time in its 40-year history, The Sunderland Collection, a private collection of rare antique cartography, is loaning items to a public institution. The collection is lending eight atlases and maps to the Sainsbury Centre, a public art museum in Norwich, UK which is affiliated with the University of East Anglia.

A World of Water (15 March – 3 August 2025) is part of Can the Seas Survive Us?, a series of Sainsbury Centre exhibitions bringing together works by British and international artists from the last 250 years who have offered a unique perspective on evolving marine ecosystems and oceanic habitats. Featuring artworks by Maggi Hambling, Ólafur Elíasson, Josh Kline and many more, A World of Water delves into humanity’s profound and intricate connection with the sea, raising pivotal questions about the global response to climate change, coastal erosion and environmental degradation.

The Sunderland Collection’s rare version of the Geographia (Sebastian Münster, 1540) in original colour will be the oldest work to be included in the exhibition, while the version of Del’ Arcano del Mare (Robert Dudley, 1646-47) is the first edition to have been owned by the Medici cardinal who sponsored its maker. Speculum Nauticum (Lucas Janszoom Waghenaer, 1586), with its coastal charts illustrated with fantastical sea monsters, was a best-seller for nautical navigators of its time.

Helen Sunderland-Cohen, manager of The Sunderland Collection, said: “Access is at the heart of everything we do, so we are incredibly proud and excited to be making our first loan to a public institution. It’s a particular honour for works from the collection to be on display at the Sainsbury Centre, which is as highly regarded by critics and curators as it is cherished by its loyal visitor base. To know that so many people will be able to see these beautiful items up close is a source of joy to all of us at the collection. We very much admire the Sainsbury Centre’s wide-ranging learning and schools programme, as well as its ‘Pay If and What You Can’ ticketing policy, which ensures the greatest possible access to the treasures it so expertly displays.”

Described by The Sunday Times as “a destination like no other in British art”, the Sainsbury Centre attracted over 140,000 visitors in 2024. A World of Water is accompanied by two other exhibitions, Darwin in Paradise Camp: Yuki Kihara (15 March – 3 August 2025) and Sea Inside (7 June – 26 October 2025), in the Can the Seas Survive Us? series.

“Our hope is to share the objects in The Sunderland Collection with as many people as possible. We look forward to future collaborations with institutions all over the world on our varied programme of free conferences, exhibitions and item loans,” added Helen Sunderland-Cohen.

Full list of items to be loaned by The Sunderland Collection to the Sainsbury Centre:

• Geographia, Sebastian Münster, 1540
• Speculum Nauticum, Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, 1586
• The Drake Map, Jodocus Hondius, 1589
• Del’ Arcano del Mare, Robert Dudley, 1646-47
• Harmonia Macrocosmica, Andreas Cellarius , 1660
• Mundus Subterraneous, Athanasius Kircher, 1664-65
• Theatre of the Great Empire of Britaine, John Speed, 1667
• Zee Atlas, Peter Goos, 1675