A disused pub in Croydon has been filled with ephemera that have become collectables, from Star Wars toys to small stones, costumes and play to cigarette packs and old plastic bags.
Over 14,000 objects, from as small as a thumbnail to as large as a small car, now fill the former Weatherspoons pub, transforming it quite unexpectedly into a joyful space full of nostalgia and memories.
Although it looks like an unlabeled exhibition, it’s actually an art project by Hetain Patel and ArtAngel to collect hobbies sent in by the public to form the collection on show.
Described as a “contemporary portrait of the UK as seen through the lens of the nation’s hobbies”, it’s not really, as while it’s clear that a Star Wars collection has, by its very nature to be relatively modern, there are typewriters older than I am here, stones, packaging, old furniture, lots of stuff notably not contemporary at all.
It’s the nature of collecting that it isn’t a snapshot of anything at all but an, at times, obsessive desire to possess as much of something as possible. Whether that’s a pair of trainers so fresh off the factory floor you can still smell the glue, or coins so old they predate Christianity.
What we do have though is two floors of an old pub, itself a clever location for an exhibition, filled with the old, the often discarded, the much loved.
The old cloakroom is filled with pink plastic thingymajigs. A wall of plastic carrier bags may bring back shopping memories long since forgotten. The glass cases of cigarette boxes will bring back mixed emotions of the harm done, but yes, the pleasure from peeling off the cellophane and popping open a new pack for the first time.
From empty boxes of KitKats to Warhammer armies to skateboards and closets of clothes, to chainmail and wooden carvings.
Is it a fun exhibition? Oh yes.
Is it art though? Umm, not really.
But does that matter? No, not really either.
Just visit, and enjoy a joyful collection of people’s eccentricities.
The exhibition, Come As You Really Are, is in Croydon at the former Grants department store on the High Street — and is open Wednesday to Sunday.
It’s free to visit, and timed tickets are available from here.
The inaugural exhibition will be followed by presentations at partner venues across the UK throughout 2025, and you can still submit your collection for the exhibition.
