FAQs - Cabaret Mechanical Theatre

What is it?

We are mainly a collection of automata, which is a kind of mechanical sculpture. We exhibit. We inspire. We teach. We are a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC).

A small barecat made of laser cut and engraved birch ply. He is smiling and pointing up.

Where are you?

Hastings in Sussex, on the south coast of the United Kingdom. The Mechanical Making Space is our latest home venue. We also have work in collections all over the world and regularly have multiple exhibitions touring.

Where did you start?

We used to say we were a collection of *contemporary automata* to distinguish from the really old stuff but since we started in the late 1970s perhaps we’ve merged into the timeline! New work is still being made by our artists and the contemporary automata scene is thriving! For more on our history, see more info / the history

See our current exhibitions

See our recent exhibitions

Exhibitions from 2008 to 2022

Exhibitions from 2002 to 2007

Didn’t you used to be in Covent Garden?

Yes, we had a permanent exhibition in Covent Garden (1984-2000), but the lease ran out, expenses soared and the premises were too small. Before that, we were in Falmouth in Cornwall growing from a small craft shop opened by our founder, Sue Jackson, in 1979.

Where can I buy something?

Thank you for asking! If you can’t make it to Hastings we do sell to customers all over the world and you can see what's currently available in our on-line store.

But what about... ?

You could try the History page or meet the team. The main pages on the site are for Automata, Exhibitions and Making. We’ve had a website since 1996 and the blog / news pages have entries going back to 2006 so feel free to use the site search or navigate via the menus. Get in touch if you still have questions.

Our mission is to promote engineering and creativity through workshops, exhibitions and automata kits.

As a Community Interest Company all profits go toward this valuable work.

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre Learning CIC
Company Number: 14598590

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