Going Mobile

Delivered in partnership with the Mobile Phone Museum, and sponsored by Vodafone UK, ‘Going Mobile’ explores the amazing journey of this everyday communication device from an exclusive status symbol, used mainly for voice calls, to a minicomputer in our pockets.

‘Going Mobile’ includes over seventy phones and objects selected from the Mobile Phone Museum’s extraordinary collection of over 2700 unique devices which range from the earliest ‘brick’ devices of the 1980s, through flip phones, sliders, and clamshells, to the latest smartphones. This will be the first time that the phones have been on public display as a collection. ‘Going Mobile ‘ also features original animations and illustrations and photography

The exhibition traces the development of mobile phone communications and its roots in the history of cable and wireless technology, dating back to the 1840s. With a combination of photos, objects, illustrations, and animations, it explains the evolution of the ‘generations’, how a mobile phone call works, and the timeline of mobile milestones. Importantly it also explores the role of the mobile phone industry in social, economic, and environmental questions and how the mobile phone has become, for many of us, not just a way of connecting with others but an extension of ourselves.

‘Going Mobile’ features original animations and illustrations by Falmouth-based animator Syd Murphy. Mobile-related work by celebrated photographers, Rankin and Levon Biss is also on display at the museum for the duration of the exhibition. The exhibition poster artwork was created by Penzance-based illustrator Mat McIvor whose design will also feature on limited edition t-shirts for sale in the PK Porthcurno Museum and online shop.