PK150: Connected Collections is an international research project to engage students remotely with PK Porthcurno’s archive, funded by Arts Council England. This symposium is a culmination of this project, where the ten student volunteers presented their work. Five had Citizen Curator training with Dr. Tehmina Goskar and were partnered with five international students based globally at locations associated with telegraphy in New Zealand, Portugal, India and Zimbabwe. The symposium provided the opportunity for them to present their fascinating remote archive projects, inspired by PK Porthcurno’s archive and the impact of telegraphy in global locations.

Guest Speaker, Anwar Akhtar of The Samosa gives an engaging talk, Exploring the relationships between Urdu, Punjabi and English in Pakistan, and explores the wider issues of how states use language and culture to build national identity narratives.

The symposium was chaired by Gareth Parry, Chair, PK Porthcurno.

The Symposium was held on 10 September 2021 via Zoom webinar, with students and audiences connecting from New Zealand, Singapore, Portugal, Zimbabwe, India and the UK, in a truly global event!

Watch a recording of the Symposium below:

The final outcomes of the research, including links to films, the New Zealand Telegraphy interactive map, websites, and blogs written by the students can be found HERE.