Showtime

One section of the museum is dedicated to shows of all kinds: circus acts with acrobat and clown automata; the world of music embodied in gramophones and phonographs; theatre with puppets, marionettes and Chinese shadows; forbears of the cinema in a collection of optical toys and instruments. The last evokes the nature of illusion itself through a variety of optical contraptions to arouse our visitors’ curiosity.

The museum’s magic lantern has a small room of its own where visitors can view original 18th century hand-painted slides that simulate basic movements. Visitors can also make their own thaumatrope, a Victorian-era optical toy which provides the illusion of motion.  Thaumatropes are often seen as important antecedents of animation and motion pictures; the story of cinema is told through the invention of film and a display of old cameras and projectors in our studio.