Silver News

Victoria and Albert Museum Builds Interactive Program on History and Uses of Silver


A new interactive multimedia program titled the Story of Silver will be part of London's Victoria and Albert Museum's popular Silver Galleries.

As part of the refurbished Silver Galleries, the museum is designing a Discovery Area where visitors can explore the technical, social and historical aspects of silver.

The screen presents the user with a virtual London street scene in one of nine layers of history ranging from Roman times to present day. Various characters such as merchants and apprentices stroll the street and users can touch the screen to hear their stories.

Touch the screen on the window of a grand Tudor house and you enter the dining room where a nobleman and his wife are at a table. By touching objects such as cups and tables, users can learn their history and uses.

Through a contemporary engraving of a silversmith's shop, users can see how different parts of a grand cup were made.

By touching coins buried beneath the street, the scene changes as you travel among different time periods. During the Tudor time period, for example, users can learn about hallmarking, the relative value of silver, foreign influence on design, royal patronage and even superstitions about the magical properties of silver.

Different media are used including sound, photographs, computer animations, video footage and even real actors animated to show some of the rituals that silver serves.

A puzzle wall with doors and flaps open to pose questions and reveal unconventional aspects of silver. Visitors can also handle some silver objects and play a game about silver on a magnetic wall.

Silver News - December 1996/January 1997