projects
- - Visitor experience development - Interactive displays - Props & set design - Video projections - Conservation-grade cabinets - Audio tour - Graphic displays - Exhibition manufacture - Exhibition fit-out
Valentia Transatlantic Cable Station
Eighth Wonder is the story of the wire that changed the world - the epic adventure of American business man Cyrus W Field who in 1858 laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean against all odds. This fascinating story is told at Valentia Cable Station - the European end of the cable - through audio-visuals, interactive portraits, original artefacts and many hands-on activities designed for families and history buffs alike. The visitor experience starts at reception with an audio visual which puts the transatlantic cable project into context. This, and all other audio visuals and texts are also available in French and English through a free app which can be dowloaded at reception. Locals will relate to some of the stories of yesteryears as told by the island’s senior through interviews conducted by their grand-children. The main exhibition room has been designed to be modular in format so that it can accommodate events by clearing the main floor. Exhibits are fixed to removable wall perforated steel and timber panelling which can be removed and relocated elsewhere in the building in a later stage of the project which will see the entire building being renovated. The current space is divided into three areas. In the first one, visitors can meet with Cyrus W Field and Sir Peter Fitzgerald and eavesdrop on their conversation where they discuss the idea to create a global interconnected network. Across the way, cable samples of the various attempts can be seen. In the maze game at the centre. Children or children at heart can try and connect the two continents. It’s not easy, takes patience, and teamwork - with traps along the way. In the middle section, engineers will revel in the display of vintage instrumentation, some of which loaned by Heart Content’s Cable Station in Newfoundland – the western end of the original cable. A model of the Great Eastern, the ship that laid the cable with information on a touch screen is at the centre of this section. On the other side, it’s all hands-on deck with a workshop where visitors can make their own telegraph system using a paper clip and a battery or try guess what their opponents are trying to say using the telegraph key game. The end section of the room begins with the cable’s many cameo appearances in literature including an encounter with Captain Nemo’s Nautilus. The central display, back wall and perforated metal wall are all dedicated to the legacy of the telegraph cable - reminding visitors that most of the global internet traffic, to this day, still travels underwater – basically using the same principle as the original cable except that instead of electrical pulses we have now moved on to light pulses flickering at the speed of light using fiberoptic cables. As visitors leave the cable station, we hope that it will encourage them to learn more about the cable sites dotted around the island.