Hello? A brief history of telephony and more

The exhibition ‘Hello? A brief history of telephony and more’ at the Etopia Centre for Art and Technology in Zaragoza invites visitors to discover the history of telecommunications – especially in Spain – from the late 19th century through to the present day.

The exhibition has the dual objective of showcasing the development of telephony, especially in Spain, and the tireless quest for progress to achieve ever faster and better communications. Around 60 selected pieces displayed chronologically in four sections illustrate a journey through time that reveals the incredible transformations that telecommunications have engendered in society over the last 150 years.

The innovations at each moment in the technological history of Spain are shown in the shape of more than sixty pieces and complementary audiovisual material: several interviews with retired employees and some audiovisual pieces for historical contextualization. This fascinating journey also reveals the incredible transformations that the development of long-distance communications has engendered in society. To keep this memory alive, Fundación Telefónica preserves and manages Telefónica’s historical and technological heritage which comprises all these pieces that have defined the technological evolution of telecommunications in Spain.

The sixty pieces exhibited at the Centre of Art and Technology of Zaragoza are arranged chronologically in four sections: “First steps in telephony (late 19th century)”, “Development and expansion of the telephone service (1920-1950s)”, “Globalization of communications (1960-1970s)” and “New communication patterns (1980s onwards)”. These stages span the period from the start of the huge advances made in long-distance voice communications through to mobile handsets.