FERRANTI’S DESK
Place a letter on Ferranti’s desk and watch as it comes to life
We were commissioned by the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester to create an interactive desk as part of their exhibition, The Innovation Race: Manchester's Makers Join the First World War.
Through the art of letter writing, Sebastian Ferranti and three other Manchester voices reveal their daily routines during the First World War.
The Innovation Race Exhibition
Marking the 100th anniversary of the Ministry of Munitions, The Innovation Race unearths hidden stories of innovation, invention and ingenuity that helped to secure victory on the Western Front.
The family friendly exhibition - complete with hands-on gadgets and creation stations - details the Shell Crisis of 1915 and Lloyd George's subsequent appeal to the city's workers, scientists and engineers to support the war effort.
From shell production and sprinkler systems, to Ferranti fuzes and aerial cameras, Manchester's makers waged war from the shop floor and turned their factories into weapons of mass production. Women started to work in factories for the first time, changing the fabric of society forever.
Collaborators
Jo Lathwood - fabricator
David Graham, Malcolm Hamilton, Katie Belshaw, Mary Eddowes - Voice Over