A new display at the University of Exeter is bringing the history of telegraphic communication back to life connecting global narratives of technology and human experience.
India on the Line: Communicating in Colonial India is now showing in the Arts and Culture Display Space in Queen’s Building until the 4th August 2026. The work shown invites visitors to explore the introduction of telegraphy in India through a mixture of interactive media, historical research, and personal storytelling.
The display features 12-panels of image and text accompanied by an interactive video game, multilingual audio guide, an artwork dedicated to the individuals involved in India’s colonial telegraphy system, and archival photographs from the Science Museum Collection. Visitors can even test their skills on a Morse transmitter, comparing their speed to that of trained telegraphists in colonial India.
The display was developed by University of Exeter researcher Dr Shibani Das, whose work examines race, ethnicity, and telecommunications in Britain and its empire. The project was funded by the BT Group Archives as part of the Science Museums and Archives Consortium (SMAC) and has previously been shown at the BT Group Archives in London and this display at the Streatham campus is being supported by the University of Exeter’s Arts and Culture team. Leila Dara, a doctoral student in Ethno-Political Studies co-coordinated the installation and launch.
Through Dr Das’s enquiry, energy and creativity, we are fortunate to be able to find out more about this colonial venture. The exhibition illustrates both the achievements of the people leading the introduction of the telegraphy system in India, and draws our attention to the ‘forgotten’ people who made it happen.
Reflecting her research approach, the display foregrounds the lived experiences of telegraph workers across colonial India, including British, Eurasian, Anglo-Indian, and Indian officers and employees. Through these stories, viewers encounter the complex realities of communication networks shaped by social and racial hierarchies.
Among the figures featured is Conrad Reginald Cooke, Chief Engineer of the Pakistan Post and Telegraph Department. His experiences, spanning professional training, colonial service, and the upheaval of the Indian Independence Movement, form a central narrative within the display.
The display introduces a new perspective on how Exeter had come to understand telegraphy...no matter how revolutionary the technology, it is the human stories behind them that truly make them life-changing. Strolling through the exhibition, the viewer will meet many of Cooke’s colleagues… men whose stories, struggles, and joys have slipped between the cracks of our archival records.
Beyond its historical focus, the display also engages with contemporary conversations about how colonial histories are understood and discussed in the UK today.Dr Das said, “Communicating in Colonial India might have been slightly easier than communicating about Colonial India in the United Kingdom today… a contested, conflicted and emotional conversation that is one worth having.”
Following its run in Exeter, the exhibition is set to return to London in 2027. You can see it now in the Arts and Culture Display Space in the West Wing Foyer of Queen’s Building on the University of Exeter's Streatham Campus until 4 August 2026.
University of Exeter
Room 153, Queen's Building
The Queen's Drive
Exeter EX4 4QH
