Museum of the Moving Image (London)

For the museum of the same name in New York, see Museum of the Moving Image (New York City).

MOMI logo.

The Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) was a museum of the history of technology and media, including cinema and its forerunners. MOMI was opened on 15 September 1988 by Prince Charles and became an instant international hit and winning 18 awards.^{[citation needed]} The museum was sited below Waterloo Bridge and forming part of the cultural complex on the South Bank of the River Thames, London, England. MOMI was mainly funded by private subscription and operated by the British Film Institute. MOMI continued to be praised internationally but despite its worldwide acclaim, after the retirement of its founders, the British Film Institute simply lost interest in its popular appeal. MOMI was closed "temporarily" in 1999 (a letter to the London Evening Standard on 31 August 1999 claimed this was cultural vandalism by the BFI), with the closure becoming permanent soon after.^[1] An article in the Magic Lantern Society Journal claimed "(MOMI was)... born out of love and generosity, but it seems you have passed away stifled by mediocrity and indifference."^{[citation needed]}

MOMI was the brain child of BFI South Bank Controller Leslie Hardcastle OBE. The vision became real when the then Director of the BFI, Anthony Smith CBE raised all the money to pay for the production. Hardcastle was assisted in his interpretation by historians David Francis OBE and David Robinson and designed by Neal Potter. MOMI helped to change the concept of how entertainment and education can sit comfortably together in a museum context. MOMI was never about collections for collections' sake. Its objective was to tell the story of the moving image using collections as punctuation on that journey.

Content of MOMI included

Tricking the Eye, Shadow puppets, Early optical device, The Phantasmagoria, Optical toys, Photography, Magic lanterns, Projection, Persistence of vision, The arrival of Cinema (Lumiere Brothers), Early Technical advances, British Pioneers including Birt Acres, Méliès, The early cinemas World War I, The formation of Hollywood, The Temple to the Gods of the Silent Cinema, Charlie Chaplin, The Russian Agit prop Train, Experimental Film, German Expressionism, The coming of sound film, Censorship, Newsreel, The Documentary Movement, Cinema of France, Animation, The Hollywood Studio System, The Great days of cinema going in Britain including Odeon Cinemas, British film, World War II, Cinema architecture, The arrival of television, Expansion of television, Cinema fights television, World Cinema, Television heritage, Television today, a Doctor Who exhibit that was used in several documentaries about the early years of the show, plus a temporary exhibition area

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  The glamorous art deco Odeon within MOMI was in contrast to the working Hollywood 'factory' studio set in front of it.

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  The early 'low-class' electric cinemas were contrasted with other more respected cultures of the first few years of the 20th century.

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  Surreal cinema was just one of the many creative uses of film displayed within MOMI.

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  The ceiling of MOMI's animation area revolved. Its design was based on a 19th century Praxinoscope.

Interpretation was done through graphics, interactive exhibits, recreated environments, models and six 35mm film projections using endless loop platters, two 16mm film projections, two DP70 - 70mm Projectors, over 70 laser disc players for video play back.There was also a group of six actors who worked in period (e.g. a Victorian magic lanternist or a Hollywood director).

A few months before MOMI opened in 1988 the animator Chuck Jones was invited to create a chase sequence directly onto the high walls of the museum. Jones spent several days working on high scaffolding to create the work. At the lowest level on a door is a smaller drawing (not part of the chase) which Jones used to try out the pens.

Animation played an important role in MOMI. Channel Four funded the Channel Four/MOMI animator in residence scheme. Winners of the competition developed a short film in the 'goldfish bowl', a three meter square glass box; this allowed the public to see the animators every move. Over forty films were produced and they won many awards worldwide.

The excitement which grew as MOMI neared opening was fueled when the Museum bought Marilyn Monroe's black dress from Some Like it Hot, for £19,800. The event captured the front page of many UK newspapers.

There was a busy Education Department with two education rooms and a small cinema for special events. The museum was very popular for private hire - corporate events or parties.

Temporary exhibitions at MOMI included: Charlie Chaplin's Centenary, Ray Harryhausen, Pop Video, The Western Film, Judy Garland, George Melies, Special Effects in the Cinema and Imagine (the next 100 years of the moving image).

MOMI was housed in a glass-sided steel framed metal-clad building (designed by Bryan Avery of Avery Associates Architects), with distinctive red roofs running along each side of Waterloo Bridge. The playful hybrid of high-tech and post-modern style in the design of the MOMI building makes a vigorous contrast with the Brutalist architecture of much of the neighbouring South Bank Centre and National Theatre and the Art Deco Waterloo Bridge.

The MOMI site reopened as BFI Southbank on 14 March 2007, providing a new entrance to the National Film Theatre complex. In addition to the existing three cinemas showcasing the best historical and contemporary film from around the world, the BFI Southbank site boasts a gallery, a mediatheque of British film and television, and a bookshop within an active programme that includes the annual London Film Festival. [1] Although there was talk that Bradford's National Media Museum planned to open a London venue, London still has no publicly funded film museum. There is the Cinema Museum, London, a charitable organization founded in 1986 run by Ronald Grant, but this has no permanent home.^[2]] In contrast the Museum of the Moving Image (New York City) is currently undergoing a $65million expansion.^[3] The lack of a permanent national collection which exhibits UK screen heritage beyond the filmic text, and interprets the broader historical context for the history of the moving image, means that the old MOMI is still missed among cinema aficionados and film students.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Letter, Evening Standard, London, UK, 1999.
2. ^ Cinema Museum, UK.
3. ^ Museum of the Moving Image, New York City, USA.

External links

• Animation At The Museum Of The Moving Image
• Dismay at film museum 'tragedy', BBC News, 7 October 2002
• MOMI, why did you leave us?, The Independent, 13 October 2002

Coordinates: 51°30′24″N 0°06′54″W / 51.50667°N 0.115°W / 51.50667; -0.115