In our collaboration with artist Anna Carey, we've brought her nostalgic vision to life in a new children's gallery exhibition at HOTA. Titled Magic + Memory: make me a home, this exhibition is an immersive journey into a slightly larger than life 'model' set inspired by Anna's handmade models of houses from her own memories. The space is imbued with nostalgia, where layers of memory, imagination, and time intertwine to create a rich experience and memories of 'home' for visitors. Central to the exhibition design is celebrating the craft involved in both Anna's models and our set, while also recognizing the integral role of memory retrieval to Anna. Visitors also get to experience how boundaries between reality and illusion can exist side by side as they explore the set alongside their own memories. We invite children and caregivers to engage in playful exploration, where the set's idiosyncrasies come to life. Throughout the exhibition, apertures of varying scales punctuate the space, opening up and closing down to intimate vistas. The way light filters through these openings—casting stark shadows or a warm glow—was inspired by Anna's drawn details overlaid over a series of her photographs, hinting at the inhabitation of the space. This act of addition to the space became a key interactive element of the exhibition. In one area, visitors can add Anna's sketched objects on chunky felt to the walls and rearrange them to imbue their own experience onto the space. In the ‘porch’ area, visitors find themselves on the ‘edge’ of the model with sky beyond. Here, you can discover play breeze blocks and complete the model wall or construct something of your own choosing. We ask visitors to make this space a home. To place their memories within, to set the scene for themselves and be within the space.
