Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture is an internationally known, leading edge nonprofit dedicated to the ideas and risk-taking that fuel contemporary popular culture. Through interactive and immersive exhibitions, MoPOP offers a one-of-a-kind museum experience, touting more than 85,000 artifacts in their permanent collection and over 1,800 artifacts on display like the Notorious B.I.G. suit, an Idris Alba costume from The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Carrie Brownstein’s Rickenbacker 330 electric guitar, the Jimi Hendrix Westerner hat, Grandmaster Flash’s turntables, and more!
New to MoPOP this year is the world premiere exhibition, Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA, a partnership with the award-winning animation studio LAIKA, which was founded in Oregon in 2005 by President and CEO, Travis Knight. With a sold out opening in March, Hidden Worlds continues to take visitors behind the scenes of LAIKA’s most beloved and Academy Award®-nominated films, including Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings (BAFTA® Award for Best Animated Film and received an additional Oscar® nomination for Visual Effects), Missing Link (Golden Globe® for Best Animated Film), and Wildwood (forthcoming). Through a variety of interactive displays, visitors will get an up-close look at the intricate craftsmanship and artistry that goes into each film, as well as the unique and imaginative worlds that LAIKA has created. Explore the Pink Palace apartments from Coraline, and the town of Blithe Hollow from ParaNorman. Visitors can see the original puppets and costumes, as well as concept art and storyboards. Interactive experiences allow visitors to learn about the stop-motion process and even try their hand at creating their own stop-motion animation.
Other MoPOP favorites include a wide range of Seattle’s music scene history – from Jimi Hendrix to Nirvana. Or they can delve into the world of science fiction and fantasy in the museum’s Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction exhibit, which features costumes, props, and other memorabilia from iconic movies and TV shows. Families will enjoy the Sound Lab exhibit, which gives people of all ages the opportunity to explore the tools of rock ‘n’ roll through electric guitars, drums, samplers, mixing consoles, and more.
