Fantastic Beasts Graphic Art Exhibition at House of MinaLima

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Wed 30 Nov 2016 - Tue 28 Feb 2017

You thought it was Rita Skeeter who wrote for the Daily Prophet? Think again. All the newspapers, wanted posters, advertisements, and other graphic designs seen in the Harry Potter films were all the work of Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima. Muggles though they may be, their artwork is magical. Even their names sound like characters from a Harry Potter book.



As though eight films were not enough, Miraphora and Eduardo were all the creative geniuses behind the graphic designs of J.K. Rowling's spin-off film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them .

When watching the film, these images are only on screen for a very short amount of time - or they are in the background. This means that we don't really get a proper look at them. Fortunately, the graphic designers have their own gallery in London called The House of MinaLima , where they are holding a free exhibition featuring all their artwork from the Fantastic Beasts film (along with the Harry Potter films too).



Spread across four wonky-floored levels, the ground floor is home to the gift shop, where you can buy prints of work from the film. These include front pages of The New York Ghost, the MACUSA insignia, wanted posters, and 1920s style muggle flyers.



As well as prints, you can also buy stationary, postcards, badges, and a behind the scenes book about the making of the film. My favourite of all these items is the wand permit envelope, which includes a form that you can fill in. Requirements include wand core, wand wood, wand length, if you are right or left handed, and so on.



Walking up the narrow staircase you will get a close look at the wanted posters for Newt, Tina, and Jacob. There are also lots of leaflets from the Second Salem group.



My favourite print can be found on the first floor and features an image the threat level clock in MACUSA Headquarters. In the film I never had time to read all the levels on the clock, but here I could see what they all said.



While most of the artwork is either hanging up on the wall or behind a glass cabinet, there are a few things that you can pick up and touch. One such item included Tina's fingerprint card.



Behind the glass cabinets are real props from the film. There were a pack of playing cards that I don't even remember seeing. Featuring illustrations of witches, they look excellent.



On the way to the next floor, there is a door with a mural. This is the same mural that concealed the entrance to a magical speakeasy.



The last two floors continue to exhibit the same [i]Harry Potter%% artwork from their last exhibition , which is great if you did not see it when it opened back in spring.

The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them exhibition lasts until February. Given entry is free, it is well worth visiting. The House of MinaLima is on Greek Street in Soho, which is just a few minutes away from where the Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is being performed at Palace Theatre .

#art
#attractions
#cinema
#exhibitions
#family_attractions
#free
#galleries
#leicester_square
#pop_culture
#soho
#things_to_see
#november
#december
#january
#february
!date 30/11/2016 -- 28/02/2017
%wnlondon