Pop Up Shops

Our FUTURES Pop Up Curiosity Shop invites visitors to let their imaginations run wild and embrace extraordinary new ideas! The 2024 shop was hosted in Princesshay, at the heart of Exeter and included a range of workshops, talks, and interactive activities.

Use the Pop Up Shop to immerse yourself in our interactive activities, get hands on with science, and have your mind blown by our boffins. In the past, we have offered plenty to explore, from our treasure trail to the Killer Fungus Experience!

For our 2024 Pop Up Shop, a team of renowned researchers showed off their specialist skills and introduced visitors to their amazing worlds. The centre of Exeter was abuzz with with an array of stands, experiences, and showcases to peruse over the weekend.

Visitors could find out how light can reveal a hidden world, using technology to see beyond the visible. They could explore how we connect and communicate as an increasingly diverse society, and uncover how the magic of sunlight powers our planet. There were opportunities to enter a new world in a VR experience of bird flight and navigation, and the chance to understand how the human brain uses our senses to create amazing illusions.

A mural display was created by artist Josephine Birch, capturing all the action of the event as it unfolded.

On Saturday 28^th September, guests were invited to attend the Killer Fungus Experience. This challenged participants to save Exeter from a fictional outbreak of an unknown deadly fungus, using ground-breaking research from the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology.

Events Showcase

Killer Fungus Interactive Event (September 28th)

Do you have what it takes to fight the Killer Fungus outbreak? Working with real scientists, this free event gave attendees the chance to save Exeter from a fictional killer virus!

Create you own Cyanotype (September 28th)

Professor Corinna Wagner invited participants to create their own Cyanotype in this fun and interactive workshop. Cyanotype is a process that uses compounds of iron and ultraviolet light to create a blue photographic image, and is still used by artists today.

Author Talk and Workshop: Rewriting the Women of Greek Myth (September 28th)

Love the Greek myths? Acclaimed author Emily Hauser treated visitors to this historical talk about legendary women in mythology and accompanying workshop where all could get creative and write their own Greek myths!

'We Still Have a Chance' Legacy Mural Launch Event (September 28th)

This celebration gave visitors the opportunity to meet the fantastic team behind Exeter's new 'We Still Have a Chance' Legacy artwork. Since its creation, this mural has already had a huge impact on the landscape of our city, encouraging all to begin their own journeys on how to live better.

Josephine Birch composing the curiosity shop mural

Exeter Science Choir singing outside the Pop-Up Curiosity Shop

Attendees using microscopes at the Killer Fungus Experience

Two attendees of the cyanotype workshop taking photos with their work

Two people hugging in front of the 'We Still Have A Chance' Legacy mural

A group taking part in the mossy carpet event at FUTURES 2024

A photo of the cyanotypes produced at the workshop

Attendees at the Killer Fungus Experience

Josephine Birch painting the curiosity shop mural

Attendees looking at a display in the Pop-Up Shop

How To Get Involved

If you would like to be involved in FUTURES 2025, please contact per@exeter.ac.uk to find out more.

Research Hide and Seek Trail

Visitors could venture out and about in the city centre to hunt down five locations, using a map and research clues as a guide. Starting from the Pop Up Curiosity Shop, participants could return once their quest and had been successful to claim a prize!

Walkie Talkies

Find out more about our Walkie Talkies Events.

FUTURES hosts researchers from five of the region’s world-class universities at a wealth of brilliant events and activities where you can explore the past, create the present, and imagine the future.