By Gesine Garz
Rye Harbour Discovery Centre Manager
We are very happy to share that we have been loaned an amazing automaton by the famous Cabaret Mechanical Theatre (CMT) for two months until the end of May 2023. This piece is called ‘Falmouth Jungle’ and was created by the artist Peter Markey.
It is on display in the Discovery Centre shop together with a range of ‘make-your-own’ automata kits for purchase.
I first fell in love with the CMT’s beautifully made, intricate and humorous ‘machines’ during the late 1980s and 90s, when their collection was based in London’s Covent Garden. They occupied a space in the basement the Piazza, which was a labyrinth full of curious contraptions created by extremely talented artists. Every automaton was unique and sprang into action by pushing a button or inserting a coin.
There was a little wooden man sitting in a bath tub full of spaghetti, there were detailed street scenes with large numbers of moving parts and even a life-size ‘doctor’ automaton who would listen to your heart-beat and then write you an actual (illegible) prescription.
Eventually, the CMT moved out of Covent Garden in 2000, and their automata collection has been touring the world since. ‘There have been exhibitions in Japan, Europe and the USA including many projects involving larger scale work…the pieces tend to share an eccentricity, a wry sense of humour and a slightly shrewd way of looking at the world. Perhaps what ultimately unified the original collection were the personal tastes and preferences of Sue Jackson, who owned and ran the show until her retirement in 2013 when she passed the reins to her daughter Sarah Alexander.’ (www.cabaret.co.uk)
Currently, CMT is based in St Leonards, and some recent local exhibitions included a show on Hastings Pier in 2018 and one at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery in 2021.
This post is also available on Sussex Wildlife Trust website
