We can travel for miles to uncover the history of an area, not realizing how much is on our doorstep. This is why we are continuing with our Days Out series, sharing with you some of the local places the Nurture Community have experienced and recommend! Today, we are going a little further afield, to The Reel Store, based in the old Coventry Evening Telegraph Newspaper Building, in Coventry.
Coventry is the United Kingdom’s City of Culture, which started in May 2021. As part of this, a range of activities was run across the city. From this, The Reel Store was born; the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery.
Based within the centre of Coventry, walking distance from the local train station and many car parks, the team behind The Reel Store have created a truly immersive and affordable experience. We visited in mid-July, taking in their two current exhibitions: Machine Memories: Space and The Tides Within In.
Both have expertly combined moving imagery, sound, lights and thought-provoking topics to suit the whole family. It felt accessible and welcoming to us, even down to the hireable ear protectors that were available at the reception. To ensure a comfortable experience, your access to the space is staggered, however, you can stay as long as you want in each exhibition.
Words and pictures don’t do this exhibition justice; Machine Memories: Space (running until the 4th of September 2022) was unlike anything we have ever experienced. My daughter and I sat on the floor, letting the projections and the sounds wash over us, like a massive sensory room. Whilst the piece runs for approximately 22 minutes, you enter at different points, so I can imagine it feels like a new experience depending on where you sit, where you look and when the loop starts for you. A product of a long-term collaboration with NASA, the exhibition uses artificial intelligence to reimagine two million publicly available images taken by satellite and telescopes, transporting visitors from the centre of Coventry to the deepest regions of outer space.
Next up was The Tides Within Us (free with the ticket to Machine Memories) this is an interactive exhibition (but I won’t say how you need to find out yourself!) which paints a picture, representing the flow of oxygen through the body, whilst making us question where our relationship with, and responsibility to, oxygen starts and finishes.
We probably spent about 40 minutes in the exhibition, so if you are planning to visit, I would recommend looking at our other events, and restaurants in the local area. Coventry has some lovely older parts, left untouched by the second world war, which includes the Cathedral (of the film, Nativity, fame!)
We know we will be back for future exhibitions at The Reel Store and look forward to how they inspire us.
