Background
A bespoke Applied Stories audio installation for the British Museum
Eternal Telephone imagines a hotline to the past, in which long-dead characters can call modern day visitors and leave them a voicemail. It's accessed in-gallery by visitors scanning a QR code then listening on their own phones.
The installation accompanies new display Four Lives, which invites visitors to meet four individuals who lived in the interconnected world of the ancient Mediterranean over two thousand years ago. The themes of identity, migration and belonging all provided inspiration for Eternal Telephone.
The characters who visitors will hear from include an Egyptian priest, the daughter of a mercenary soldier, a Phoenician merchant and Alexander the Great.
To create the content we assembled an award-winning writing team of Anthony Anaxagorou, Hassan Abdulrazzak and Nada Sabet, overseen by Applied Stories artistic director Fin Kennedy.
The professional cast includes Royal Shakespeare Company actor Waleed Elgadi, Gangs of London star Sammy Broly and Killing Eve’s Jumaan Zizzari.
Eternal Telephone is designed to be experienced in situ, all the files are also online and can be accessed here
