1865
We worked with The National Library of Wales to discover ways in which they could make story led connections with new audiences through digital platforms and helped them to develop their digital strategy.
We created a prototype interactive online experience that drew inspiration from the Patagonian archives from the National Library of Wales.
Archives and artefacts by their nature are obsolete unless their story can be communicated. Stories have human interest and connect artefacts to the person viewing them. We wanted to challenge the ways in which digital could reconnect current and new audiences to archival material by making them more directly relevant to them. Simply digitising them does not make them more interesting or accessible. But telling their story does.
During the project audiences become central to the story of the Patagonian endeavour. We created an experience where the audience were cast as the leader of the colony and given control of its future that aimed to mirror real world scenarios that the early settlers of Patagonia would have faced.
The evocation of emotion from the user comes from the overwhelming nature of situation, with decision having to be made quickly in order to progress, each decision having a consequence - good or bad.
During the project we sought to tell the story held within the archive on a personal level not simply to display artefacts digitally. The result was a digital experience that evoked strong connections to the material and incited further interest in the subject from its users.
This project was a new direction for The National Library of Wales and previous engagements have been heavily factual. We wanted to explore how this experience could trigger an empathic response in a user, and whether the emotional impact of a personal interaction with the story behind the archive would breathe new life into it, making it live and current.
Find out more about our full R&D process by reading the research report available on the Native Website.
This project was an Arts, Archives and Technology Project for the NESTA Arts and Digital Fund in Wales. Developed in collaboration with the National Library of Wales, artist Jorge Lizalde and creative technology partner Hoffi.
