Seeing Voices: Inside BT Archives

For those of you living in the London area, consider making the trek to the London College of Communication for a group exhibition that discovers and interprets BT Archives. Get in touch with me for information regarding the private view on 2 March!

Seeing Voices: Inside BT Archives

2 March – 11 March — London College of Communication, SE1 6SB

This event is free and open to all.

Look closely. Carefully nestled away and stacked high upon shelves, 150 years of history rustles and whispers, waiting to be discovered.

Seeing Voices: Inside BT Archives explores the archives that lay behind the company’s vault-like door in High Holborn, London.

Seeing Voices suggests that a telephone is more than an everyday object that connects us; the icon represents a vast social history of exchange. By unraveling histories through archival material, students of MA Design Writing Criticism at the London College of Communication capture historical moments from the boxes of BT. These snippets present everyday stories where the meaning and impact of telephony is not only visible, but also enchanting.

Though each story is distinct, the multi-media exhibition connects the seven projects through shared social dialogues about telecommunications: a campaign’s power; a wire’s beauty; the face of advertising; the origin of etiquette; the lost exhibition; the intimacy of long-distance; the fairies in your phone.

By going back to original source material, we find authenticity and raw stories to tell. We learn that narratives lie in every archive and every object. They can speak to us, and we can listen.

Seeing Voices: Inside BT Archives runs from 2 March– 11 March in the Well Gallery, London College of Communication.

Private view on Wednesday 2 March, from 6-9 p.m.