Conversations, Craft & Movement

A SIM card is many things. An international ID card held within our smartphones, a repository of personal data, and a tool for intimate connection. They have a symbolic meaning too. They provide a bridge to transnational, as well as local networks to give us a portable sense of belonging. 

This project uses the SIM card as a platform to shape new ways of sharing and archiving stories of migration. It is inspired by conversation and craft with refugees and others affected by displacement. The artworks in the exhibition are created in guided workshops. Participants select an image with meaning - a screenshot with a story - which is transferred onto a sim-scale glass model. In turn, metal frames are etched, polished and stamped with ID numbers of personal significance. 

The wearable SIM artworks tell stories and ask questions about notions of home, identity and how people relate to each other through digital devices. 

‘As an immigrant, I don’t really have roots, I have tendrils, which stretch to different places in the world where there are people I love’

Argentinian project artist, Cyprus, 2022

Create and Make

Design your personal SIM artwork. Create, order and contribute.

Curious about the hybrid process? Make your piece in a workshop. 

Find out more

The Story

The project was inspired by collaboration with refugees on a resettlement programme in Coventry, a UK city of sanctuary. Their SIM artworks were added to the city's museum collection in 2017. 

Through this process, SIM cards emerged as “keys” for unlocking ‘smartphone suitcases,’ opening up channels to loved ones and personal data archives, and  providing a sense of independence as well as home.

See the first chapter of the project here.

‘When I first arrived my SIM card from Jordan stopped working and I felt out of touch with the world. When I got a UK SIM card I began to feel part of this country… All my family and friends were waiting for news. I called them and sent pictures of my new bedroom.

Syrian project artist, Coventry, 2018
The SIM Project Logo
Memories
in Motion