10 March 2025
Waymarkers, a new exhibition from artist and anthropologist Liz Hingley, to open in The Curiosity Cabinet on London’s Strand this Spring.
From 19 March 2025, The Curiosity Cabinet at 171 The Strand will be home to ‘Waymarkers’, a new exhibition exploring and celebrating The SIM Project, founded by artist and anthropologist Liz Hingley.
The SIM Project highlights the smartphone SIM card as a universal symbol of connection and a vital tool for building local and international relationships. It was created in 2017 with Syrians on a resettlement programme in Coventry and evolved through residencies at King’s College London’s Digital Humanities Department, Houston Center for Photography and Migration Mobilities Bristol.
Eight years later, the project continues to evolve in collaboration with those who have experienced displacement and brings people together across social and political borders through making, using the SIM card as a platform to shape new ways of sharing and archiving stories of migration. Participants make a screenshot from the image archive on their phone, which is transferred onto a sim-scale glass model, framed in metal, polished and then stamped with ID numbers of personal significance. Each person makes one piece to add to The SIM Project collection and another to keep and wear. This transforms the project into a living exhibition and intimate archive, sharing stories of mobility and belonging.
All exhibits displayed as part of Waymarkers in The Curiosity Cabinet this Spring will incorporate images from workshops held in eight countries, with the aim of sharing personal memories, creating understanding and dignity for those who have been othered.
‘I keep my SIM card in my wallet as a reminder of a place and a past life that I am not able to reach’
- Omer, Sudan and Greece, 2022
Waymarkers Project Credits
The Curiosity Cabinet is a space created by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, produced by King’s Culture. It tells the story of some extraordinary research being done by King's staff and students using the physical and digital objects that have inspired or emerged from it.
Exhibition design for both Waymarkers and Imaging Peace is by Alphabetical.
The SIM Project Team includes the skills and care of architect Dr Egemen Kiziclan, photographer Frank Menger, and jeweller Dr Sofie Boons. It is sponsored by 4JET Glass and partnered with Counterpoints Arts. The Project was exhibited at V&A, London, for the 2024 London Design Festival.
Join The SIM Project workshop! Hand stamp a meaningful number onto a SIM-sized plate and pin it to our world map of personal...
