Discover The Reel Store this Summer
Calling all space explorers for the ultimate summer holiday experience at The Reel Store!
Discover the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery, The Reel Store, this summer.
Housed in the old reel store at the former home of the Coventry Evening Telegraph newspaper, a space that once held the rolls of paper that the city’s stories were printed on is now hosting world renowned artists at a whole new scale.
Two spectacular exhibitions await, which will take you on a journey through the cosmos and the human body.
Machine Memories: Space
Refik Anadol’s Machine Memories: Space is a product of a long-term collaboration with NASA and 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.
The Tides Within Us
Leading art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast take visitors beyond the limits of our senses with a five-screen, real-time interactive installation, The Tides Within Us. The immersive artwork investigates the flow of oxygen through the human body, connecting us through breath to the rhythms that underpin life on earth.
Whether you have an interest in space, are looking to have fun with the family, or want to grab the most instagrammable pictures in the UK – this is an exhibition not-to-be-missed.
There is an excellent café to enjoy with some great gifts to share as souvenirs and presents.
Just a few minutes’ walk from Coventry City Centre, and its many shops and restaurants, The Reel Store adjoins the Coventry Telegraph Hotel and is easily accessible by any mode of transport.
Raring2go! Review:
I took my boys along to The Reel Store today. I’d heard a little bit about this new digital art gallery in Coventry but if I’m totally honest it was quite hard to explain to the kids exactly what they should expect when we got there.
When we arrived we were directed down into the basement of the old Telegraph building to receive a quick briefing and then on into the digital gallery space where Machine Memoirs: Space is currently playing on a loop. The room is a really intriguing combination of moving images projected onto some walls and the floor coupled with large mirrors on the remaining sides. After taking a minute to get our bearings we found a space to sit down on the floor and took it all in.
There are a number of different ‘phases’ to the imagery and accompanying background music which are, at times, entirely mesmerising. I really recommend taking the time to lose yourself for a moment in the experience which is truly multi-sensory.
My two children are 14 and 10 and found the experience interesting but there were also a number of early years/ toddler aged children there during our visit. They were clearly enjoying exploring the space and watching the movement unfold around them. This a very accessible and welcoming venue for all ages – no need to worry about keeping quiet or still. There is plenty of room for little people to wander/ crawl around as takes their fancy!
The second exhibition, The Tides Within Us, is included in your ticket. Don’t miss a visit to this on the way back out of the building. We spent quite a while absorbed by the digital representations of oxygen flowing into the human body. It is really quite cleverly created and definitely worth a visit.
In total (including a quick pit stop in the cafe on the way out!) we spent just over an hour in The Reel Store.
Tickets start from £5 if bought in advance online so it is worth planning ahead if you plan to visit.
This is definitely something worth adding to your list of places to visit with the children over the Summer holidays. It is a really innovative initiative and I will definitely be looking our for news of exhibitions that may follow later in the year!
