A night of mystical, magical wonders at Watford Museum

This Saturday 16 May, 6pm-10pm, Watford Museum is coming alive at night as part of Culture 24’s Museums at Night festival. You can explore the kinetic animations from Victorian times to the digital age, as well as try out the creative zoetrope workshop. The museum will be transformed by Mewlab to tell a story through kinetic animations, using bicycle wheels, vinyl players, Victorian toys, flipbooks, projections and mechanisms alongside sounds and strobe lighting. Rose Clark, Culture 24, who lead Museums at Night, the UK’s annual festival of late night openings in museums, galleries and other cultural venues. said: “The festival aims to inspire new visitors to discover the fascinating arts and heritage highlights on their doorstep, and every year Watford Museum’s creative event programming is a highlight. It’s great to see the museum team collaborating with different cultural partners from around Watford. We’re really excited to see the town come alive after hours with Mewlab’s animation installations!” The zoetrope – one of the first kinetic toys of the Victorian era – will take centre stage in the workshop as people learn how to give the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of images. Gemma Meek, Museum Learning Officer, said: “I love this sort of creativity tied in with a bit of history, it shows us the beginnings of animation today as well as inspiring our imagination.” People of all ages will have a chance to make their own animation for the zoetrope helped by artists Roger Kattenhorn and Suraya Raja. These animations will be put together after the event alongside music composed by Purcell School and shown on the museum website. Watford’s LP Café will be running a pop-up where you can purchase a vinyl or have a cup of coffee. There will also be the chance to try the locally brewed beer of Pope’s Yard, take in the music of local artists Minnie Birch and Tom Craven and browse other exhibits. Tell us about your experience on the night by using #WatfordMuseumAtNight. Picture courtesy of Dave Parker