Camden People's Museum
Connecting people to the stories, sounds and spirit of one of London's most iconic boroughs.
Camden Alive is the programme of arts and culture that celebrates the people of Camden. As one of the leading innovative boroughs, Camden Council wanted to explore new ways of showcasing this work, and approached Arcade to develop a digital platform with immersive technology at its core.
The result was the Camden People’s Museum. A new concept in the ‘museum’ space, it challenges preconceptions of what a museum is – it has no door, no walls and exists in the world around us, spread across the Camden landscape. ‘Visitors’ to the Camden People’s Museum can enjoy its collection of artworks and experiences that reveal the stories, sounds and spirit of one of London’s most iconic boroughs.
The initial phase of the Camden People’s Museum covers ten separate collaborations, spread across the borough from Lismore Circus in the north, to the Sidings and Alex & Ainsworth in the west, east to Maiden Lane and south as far as Holborn and the British Museum.
Users can look for branded panels that we have designed to give the Camden People’s Museum its own distinctive identity, and use these to trigger immersive experiences relating to that area.
One particular collaboration took us into a Camden primary school, to bring the imaginative stories and drawings of a Year 4 class to life in AR. Working with Camden Spark and the House of Illustration, we introduced the 8-9 year olds to the technology and enabled readers of the space they created – the beautiful Museum of the Imagination– to bring the characters to life and immerse themselves in the fantastical narrative.
Augmented reality is the perfect technology for a challenge like this. It is an inherently fascinating and engaging medium, challenges people’s perceptions of art and culture, and enables artworks to be put on permanent display in public locations with none of the issues that physical installations face.
And it has a unique ability to fire the imagination, revealing artistic creations that are otherwise hidden from the senses, and adding new creative dimensions to the art, and the stories it celebrates.
To experience the magic and wonder of the Camden People’s Museum, download the app using the links below and get exploring!
We are very excited about these new partnerships. Camden Alive is building momentum and with the help of artists, digital technology experts and musicians the stories and history of Camden and its residents will be brought to life.
Working with the team at Arcade has been fantastic. They engaged with people at a creative level, inspiring new ideas, sharing and collaborating, which was very exciting to be a part of.
