Cabaret Mechanical Theatre

Mechanical is our middle name

Now and Future

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Permanent Exhibitions

These 3 venues have CMT exhibits on show all year round. Choose a link below for opening times and more information.

Tim Hunkin’s latest arcade of slot machines Novelty Automation includes some old favourites from CMT’s Covent Garden days – The Frisker, Test Your Nerve and The Chiropodist.

Novelty Automation, 1a Princeton Street, London WC1R 4AX. More of Tim’s machines can be seen in his first arcade on Southwold Pier.

Touring Exhibitions

Automata on the Pier with Cabaret Mechanical Theatre


March 15th – April 15th 2018

PLEASE NOTE: CLOSED Wednesday 28th March for a Private Event
Open Daily – Free
Hastings Pier, Hastings, East Sussex, UK
Exhibition, Workshops, Community Event Fun Day and Talk.

We are exhibiting over 20 automata from our collection on Hastings Pier.
This exhibition is part of a wider partnership between Hastings Pier, Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, Culture Shift and the Craftivist Network, which includes a programme of workshops for families, schools and community groups.
One key part of the project has seen local artists working with Autism Sussex, Parchment Trust, MENCAP, Active Arts, Southdown’s Wellbeing Centre in Bexhill and Seaview to help local people to create their own automata, some of which will be on display.

Tim Hunkin talk: The Changing Fortunes of Amusement Arcades
Thursday 12th April 6.30 p.m. £5
Booking Essential
Click here for more information

Family Workshops
There are also a series of Family Workshops inspired by the exhibition
Click here for more information

Marvellous Machines – Banbury Museum

An exhibition for all ages that combines curious and quirky gadgets and contraptions from the days before electronics, with modern automata, and all with more than a hint of Steampunk.

24 March – 9 June 2018
Open Monday to Saturday, 10am – 5pm
Admission £2 – £4

Banbury Museum
Spiceball Park Rd
Banbury
OX16 2PQ

Curious Contraptions at Explora

Our Touring Exhibition ‘Curious Contraptions’ is at

Explora
1701 Mountain Road NW
Albuquerque,
New Mexico 87104,
USA

17th Feb – 20th May 2018
Open Daily – Admission Charge

The exhibition includes fabulous automata from our collection, interactive panels which explain the mechanics behind the pieces, and an inspiring new mechanical sign for Curious Contraptions created by Wonderful Idea Co.

A Cabaret of Mechanical Movement – Falmouth

Turn the handles and be amazed by our astounding automata!

This summer we will be celebrating Falmouth’s tradition of automata making and generally enjoying all things that move. From Peter Markey, Ron Fuller and the original Cabaret Mechanical Theatre to the finest and most recent local and contemporary automata makers.

A Cabaret of Mechanical Movement
30 June – 8 September

Falmouth Art Gallery
Municipal Buildings
The Moor, Falmouth
Cornwall, TR11 2RT

FREE ENTRY
Monday – Saturday 10am-5pm

The Marvellous Mechanical Museum – Compton Verney

Promising to be both fascinating and visually stunning, The Marvellous Mechanical Museum will bring a host of historic and contemporary mechanical marvels to Compton Verney.

Beginning with the creations and mechanical exhibitions of the 17th and 18th centuries – a period often regarded as a ‘golden era’ of automata – the exhibition explores how such machines have long fascinated not only their own makers and wealthy patrons but the general public alike.

The exhibition will also feature the whimsical creations of inventor Rowland Emett, set designer for the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and a host of Contemporary Automata makers and artists.

The Marvellous Mechanical Museum
30 June 2018 – 30 September 2018, Tue – Sun, 11am – 5pm

Compton Verney Art Gallery & Park
Warwickshire
CV35 9HZ

A Curious Turn: Moving Mechanical Sculpture

A Crafts Council Exhibition

The eagerly anticipated tour of the Crafts Council’s exhibition, A Curious Turn, began in full at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, (a smaller version of the show premiered at the Platform Gallery in Habitat, King’s Road, London).

The UK tours dates are:

Links: Crafts Council
If you can’t visit the exhibition in person, there is a virtual version of the exhibition at Derby Museum here: https://v21art.space/a-curious-turn