Conversations Through the Ages

Tess Sebastian
Nov 3, 2023
2 min read

An interactive work held at the Queensland Museum, that re-imagined archived letters being brought to life.

Above: Photo of Conversations Through the Ages exhibit. Level 4 of the Queensland Museum.

Overview

Conversations Through the Ages was a interactive art exhibit that allowed audience members to 'listen' to letters from past eras, and then were invited to write their own anonymous letter to post to the future.

The Interaction

Audience members could pick up a phone, and listen to letters being read out on a loop. Each phone had 3-5 letters voiced from different voice actors (some included ourselves). After listening to the letters, the audience could sit at our writing desk/mini post office, and write and "post" their own anonymous letter to whom they wished.

Project Development

I worked in a transdisiplinary setting with two other artists, Leilani Kirkpatrick (drama) and Ana Daniels (visual artist) over six weeks to conceptualise and develop the work to be pitched, accepted and installed into the Queensland Museum as part of a one night only After Dark event.

Each phone represented a dedicated "era".

Black: spanned from 1840 - 1940.

Green: 1940 - 1960

Pink: 1960 - 2023 (current)

Pictured left: The pink era phone on it's custom built plinth and phone mount

Research

It felt important to have letters from Brisbane's local history, so I accessed local archives through the John Oxley resources of the Queensland Library. Through accessing archives and reading through original letters I was able to find letters and pieces of history that portrayed a broad spectrum of Brisbane's past, including; letters from a convicted murderer, letters from lobbyists for gay and trans rights activists and political movements, and letters from some of our first settlers.

Above: Archival search at the John Oxley Library archives.

My role in this project was Project Manager, where I oversaw and delegated tasks to be completed. I was lead researcher for the content for the letters, and also for the technical components of the work, and sourced the necessary physical components through up-cycled and recycled avenues.

I also facilitated the groups communication needs, and relayed critical information to marketing and publicity departments for the event.