A BRAND new ‘pop-up’ museum will be taking the sights, sounds and smells of Scarborough to the town’s streets in 2016.

The beach-hut themed mini museum, featuring automata and diorama, is inspired by the Scarborough Collections, the name given to all the museum objects and artwork owned by the borough, and is being created after consultation with the local community.

The pop-up museum has been designed by Edinburgh-based theatre company Tortoise in a Nutshell, whose co-company manager Alex Bird says: “We spent around 10 days in Scarborough talking to organisations across the town, including the libraries, the Maritime Heritage Centre, The Street, the Friends of Dean Road Cemetery and the Archaeological and Historical Society, to find out what the town means to them.

“The result is a ‘pop-up museum’ crammed with information about Scarborough from its formation to the present day, all presented in a tactile, multi-sensory and visually inspiring way.”

The project has been overseen by SMT’s Project Officer David Rounce, who says: “The museum will look at Scarborough’s past, but also its future as a thriving and vibrant resort.

“It will be interactive with lots of things to touch as well as look at, so whatever their age and ability, visitors should have lots of fun.”

A display about the pop-up museum and Tortoise in a Nutshell’s previous work can be seen in Scarborough Art Gallery’s community gallery until Sunday, January 10.

Tortoise in a Nutshell is a multi-award-winning theatre company, touring work extensively throughout the UK as well as internationally. Since forming in 2010, it has won a prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Award for Feral (2013) and an IdeasTap Edinburgh Award for The Last Miner (2010).

Anyone wishing to invite the pop-up museum along to an event, or wishing to submit ideas for places for it to visit, is asked to contact Communities Curator Rachael Drew on 01723 384505, or email rachael.drew@smtrust.uk.com