Museum of The Moving Image (London)

Museum Of The Moving Image (London)

The Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) was a museum of the history of technology and media, including cinema and its forerunners. MOMI was opened on 15 September 1988 by Prince Charles and became an instant international hit and winning 18 awards. The museum was sited below Waterloo Bridge and forming part of the cultural complex on the South Bank of the River Thames, London, England. MOMI was mainly funded by private subscription and operated by the British Film Institute. MOMI continued to be praised internationally but despite its worldwide acclaim, after the retirement of its founders, the British Film Institute simply lost interest in its popular appeal. MOMI was closed "temporarily" in 1999 (a letter to the London Evening Standard on 31 August 1999 claimed this was cultural vandalism by the BFI), with the closure becoming permanent soon after. An article in the Magic Lantern Society Journal claimed "(MOMI was)... born out of love and generosity, but it seems you have passed away stifled by mediocrity and indifference."

MOMI was the brain child of BFI South Bank Controller Leslie Hardcastle OBE. The vision became real when the then Director of the BFI, Anthony Smith CBE raised all the money to pay for the production. Hardcastle was assisted in his interpretation by historians David Francis OBE and David Robinson and designed by Neal Potter. MOMI helped to change the concept of how entertainment and education can sit comfortably together in a museum context. MOMI was never about collections for collections' sake. Its objective was to tell the story of the moving image using collections as punctuation on that journey.