• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

News and entertainment worth sharing – York and North Yorkshire

  • News
  • Things to do
  • Radio
  • Vouchers
  • Categories
    • Business
  • More
    • Comments
    • Advertise
    • Contact us
Supreme Queen at York Barbican

Plan revealed for a brand new museum in York – which will ‘amuse, fascinate, teach and disgust’

News worth grinning about. This is Robert the cat, one of the artefacts for the new museum. Photograph: Pandora's Box / Facebook
Sunday 7 May, 2017 @ 6.59 pm Shopping, Things to do YorkMix
Share via...

York could soon have a brand new museum – unlike any other in the city.

The Curiosity Micro Museum and Sideshow will showcase some of the strange, novel and downright weird things the world has to offer.

It is the brainchild of Greg and Heather Bowser, the couple who created York’s strangest shop – Pandora’s Box on Colliergate.

YorkMix - advertise with us
YorkMix - advertise with us
YorkMix - advertise with us
YorkMix #ad

The self-proclaimed ‘one-stop weird shop’ stocks all sorts of oddities, curiosities, collectibles and antiques.

Donate to the Kickstarter campaign here

Now they want to create a mini-museum at the premises and have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the £5,500 needed to launch it.

“The idea is that York’s weirdest shop can become York’s smallest weirdest independent museum, modelled after a Victorian Cabinet of Curiosities, housing strange and unusual items from around the world,” Heather told YorkMix.

There are lots of rewards for backers, but you need to get in before the deadline of May 28.

Bizarre artefacts

Greg and Heather previously ran a similar museum in Heather’s home country, the United States – and won an award for it.

But they hadn’t thought of doing the same thing in York – “until early last autumn when we applied for membership as an independent museum and our ideas began to unfold”.

Nice hat

So who is the Curiosity Micro Museum and Sideshow aimed at?

“It’s for people who want to see the strange, the weird and the wonderful – the bizarre things that you’ll never really see anywhere else in the world, that we’ve sent years gathering and curating,” Heather said.

The main exhibition will display the artefacts and curiosities in their collection, such as…

  • antique surgical and medical instruments
  • antique embalming and mortuary related items
  • taxidermy
  • strange preservations
  • and items from a Victorian sideshow.

Old-fashioned sideshow

Pandora’s Box is a treasure trove of the odd and macabre. Photograph: Richard McDougall

“We will curate the best and oddest things from all over the world to amuse, fascinate, teach or disgust you,” the couple say.

“We want children to come in and leave excited about the world. We want adults to come in and leave fascinated and with open eyes about what exactly it looks like inside our imagination.”

There would also be regular visiting exhibitions.

“We want to honour the tradition of the old-fashioned sideshow,” say Greg and Heather.

“The kind of place that leads you through a curtain and into another time and place.”

They need the Kickstarter cash to display the treasures in proper display cabinets, and signs to explain all about each item.

“If we can’t keep sharing these stories, these items are going to be lost forever,” Heather says.

“We’d like you to be part of the story of Pandora’s Box, and its next chapter.”

Related YorkMix stories

Inside York’s strangest shop

One of York’s most distinctive shops closes for a major refurb

These are the two most stylish people in York – chosen after a month-long search

Footer

YorkMix
News 01904 848 766
Email YorkMix news »
5-6 King's Court, Shambles, York  YO1 7LD
YorkMix Radio
General enquiries 01904 375 029
Studio/competitions 01904 375 030
Email YorkMix Radio »
Selby Superbowl, Bawtry Road, Selby  YO8 8NA
YorkMix is a trading name of YorkMix Media Ltd
Registered in England
Company number: 07814727
VAT number: 154 0364 34
© York Sound Ltd

Copyright © 2022 YorkMix Media Ltd

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT