Our current exhibitions
PERFORM TRANSFORM
PERFORM TRANSFORM was a programme of heritage, arts and technology activities in museums in Watford, Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth and Royston, uncovering and sharing stories of local residents with two years of events, residencies and exhibitions in the community, museums and on new digital platforms.
It offered an opportunity to bring together artists, local museums and local communities to challenge the relationship between heritage and a sense of place and belonging. The mission of this project challenged inequality to cultural access and supported members of our communities who experience disadvantage, to overcome barriers and offered a programme with tangible skills development and improved sense of wellbeing.
The project included:
- Arts, storytelling and technology activities as the toolkit to engage with and interpret of heritage themes;
- Tactile engagement with museum collections, to stimulate discussion and individual responses to themes;
- The creation of a new app as a way to celebrate communities’ stories, museum collections and interpretations of heritage with the wider public.
The exhibition features work inspired by the activities in North Hertfordshire Museum.
PERFORM TRANSFORM was managed by BEEE Creative, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and is being produced in collaboration with Watford, Stevenage, North Hertfordshire, Royston Museums and Letchworth Heritage Foundation.
This exhibition is upstairs in the The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery.
Hitchin’s Toy Story
13 July – 22 September 2024
‘Raffo Pape and Woodward’ with their team of inventive designers have been quietly creating and developing product concepts for the children’s toy industry from their discreet design studio in Walsworth Road, Hitchin. Some of their toys were commissioned directly by the manufacturers, but after 1980, they realised that toy companies are always looking out for new ideas from external inventors and designers. They sell these self-initiated designs under licence through Marketmatch, a separate marketing company.
For over forty years, their designs have been made and sold through major companies like Fisher Price, Tomy, Playskool and Matchbox. Their projects include work on brands such as Action Man, Play Doh, ELC and Thomas the Tank Engine. Their designs have sold in at least 115 countries of the 192 recognised by the United Nations. The partners have always encouraged new talent, working with university design students, some of whom returned to become full-time members of the team. At its peak, it consisted of seven or eight designers, a student and an administrator.
This family-friendly exhibition will feature a colourful display of original sketches, artworks, videos, production toy samples and prototype models from their back catalogue. You may recognise many of them. There are also concepts and prototypes for products that didn’t quite make it. It highlights the entire design process, from original concept through to final manufacture and marketing.
Upcoming exhibitions
The Snowman
October – December 2024
An exhibition of framed cels from the popular 1982 film, with early versions of the book and a facsimile of the original. There will be Snowman activities and dressing up for the little ones.
Past exhibitions
Find out about past exhibitions here.