By Luke Voogt
Locals can say hello to Geelong’s past and leave their own memories for others to discover in a new interactive arts project this month.
“My wish is that … people get to re-connect to what makes us all Geelong through connecting to the past in the present for the future,” said Rachel Hanlon, the media archaeology artist behind Hello Geelong.
Through vintage telephones at the National Wool Museum and selected senior citizens clubs, locals can speak to an ‘interactive voice response chat bot’ prompting them with questions about their memories of Geelong.
Hanlon will add these memories to a repository accessible at the Hello Geelong payphone booth at the museum.
Locals will then be able to access the “living and breathing archive” with the “actual voices of its storytellers”, and leave their own memories too, according to Hanlon.
“I hope everyone gets to make a local call with a Hello Geelong machine to be a part of this voice tapestry of our cultural identity as a community for future Geelong,” she said.
Hello Geelong pays homage to the role the city played in developing communications in Australia and the concept of telephones connecting people across large distances.
The project, running until July 31, received support from Geelong council’s COVID-19 arts recovery fund established in response to the devastating impact of the pandemic on creative industries.
Details: rachelhanlon.com
