Museum in the Park opens playful new show exploring inventive automata

Visitors to the Museum in the Park are invited to explore a captivating world of movement, creativity and inventive reuse in a new exhibition celebrating the work of award‑winning toymaker and artist Robert Race.

A Moveable Refreshment: Works Old and New brings together almost fifty years of Robert’s mechanical toys and automata, featuring both early pieces and more recent creations. Robert is known for transforming every day and discarded objects into imaginative  playful, hand‑powered artworks, many of Robert’s pieces are designed to be operated by hand, and the exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to interact with many of the pieces, provided this is done gently, and with care.

A self‑taught sculptor, Robert first experimented with making dolls houses and miniature furniture before developing an interest in automata inspired by toys around the world. His works use cams, levers and pulleys to create movement, encouraging visitors to discover how each piece works through direct, hands on engagement. None use electricity. Instead, they celebrate the joy and curiosity that come from movement created by the people’s own hands.

Materials such as driftwood, scrap metal, string and found objects are carefully chosen and reimagined in thoughtful and creative ways; the work Another Rubbish Year is made of discarded items Robert collected every day for a year - from bus tickets to broken rulers.

Robert’s work has been widely exhibited, and examples can be found in collections such as the Museum of Childhood in London, the Japan Museum of Contemporary Toy, and the Arts Council (Southeast) Craft Collection. His commissions include designing Transformations: The Art of Recycling exhibition at Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum and producing mechanical donation boxes for galleries and hospitals. In 2022, he received a gold medal at the Internationale Handwerksmesse (International Crafts Fair) in Munich.

Now in his eighties, Robert continues to produce new work with energy and imagination.

Reflecting on the exhibition, he said: “All the things I make are moveable, and the word ‘refreshment’ reflects the fact that I rediscover materials and refresh them. I hope people will smile, if not laugh, and see the world in a different way.”

Abigail Large, Events & Exhibitions Officer, The Museum in the Park said: “We are delighted to host this special exhibition which lifts people's spirits and is making everyone smile. In the museum collection you can see wonderful toys and games from the past, but they need to be displayed inside glass showcases to keep them safe. Being allowed to interact, very gently, with Robert's incredible inventions makes this exhibition really unusual. A few exhibits are too delicate to be played with, but the gallery steward will demonstrate them from time to time. There is something so magical about seeing them move.

"The exhibition does require parents and grandparents to supervise young children closely, so some adults may prefer to visit with one child at a time. And some adults may find they feel like a child again! For families, we offer a variety of free explorer trails which provide a fun way to explore the museum collections together, so there is plenty to do and see beyond the gallery walls.”

A Moveable Refreshment runs from Saturday 24 January to Sunday 8 March 2026 at the Museum in the Park, Stroud. Admission is free. The exhibition will be accompanied by half‑term activities.

More details of all activities can be found on the Museum in the Park website, and visitors can sign up to the free membership programme here.

The Museum in the Park, managed by Stroud District Council in collaboration with the Stroud District (Cowle) Museum Trust, is housed in a Grade II listed 17th‑century wool merchant’s residence and shares the rich and diverse history of the Stroud district.

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