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Camel Trains to Steel Wheels

Intro

Camel Trains to Steel Wheels: Life on the Trans-Australian Railway at the National Archives explores the prominent Trans-Australian Railway in a celebration of a colourful chapter of Australias history.

Opening in 1917, the Trans-Australian Railway was Australia's most economically and strategically important line. It ran from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain and connecting the east and west areas of the nation.

Services

Exhibition Design
Spatial Experiences
Graphic Design

Camel Trains to Steel Wheels

Intro

Camel Trains to Steel Wheels: Life on the Trans-Australian Railway at the National Archives explores the prominent Trans-Australian Railway in a celebration of a colourful chapter of Australias history.

Opening in 1917, the Trans-Australian Railway was Australia's most economically and strategically important line. It ran from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain and connecting the east and west areas of the nation.

Services

Exhibition Design
Spatial Experiences
Graphic Design

Date

Oct 2024

Client

National Archives of Australia

Industry

Cultural Institution

Timeline

3 Months

The Opportunity

This exhibition features fascinating archival records, photos and footage that captured the events and challenges from the railway's first 60 years, including its impact on First Nations people.

The Outcome

The graphics employ a limited colour palette of red and orange hues, inferring the backdrop of the train line's inception in the Australian outback.

The graphics needed to complement the black and white photography that makes up the exhibition in both the form of displayed artefacts and wall decals that decorate the space. The primary exhibition graphic reflects these visual decisions, combining red soil and black and white photographic elements, composed in a scene that summarises the context of the exhibition.

Conclusion

Working closely with the NAA exhibition project team, Artikel delivered the overall exhibition layout and placement, as well as the design of the graphics and illustrative work featured throughout the gallery space.