Inside the House of MinaLima

by · June 6, 2016

After a great deal of teasing on their Instagram accounts,  MinaLima recently revealed the big secret, the opening of the House of MinaLima. Part exhibition and part retail outlet, the House of MinaLima (HoM) will feel familiar to anyone who previously visited their Coningsby Gallery exhibitions, but this time it’s four marvellous floors of MinaLima graphic art goodness!

Tucked away on Greek Street in Soho, London, the shop face of HoM is a joy to behold! Painted a bright fuchsia pink, with exposed light bulbs and delightfully crowded window displays, it’s impossible to ignore.

Our advice for visiting HoM would be to – initially – bypass the gift shop. You will want to return later, but to begin with, walk straight through and climb the stairs. And then climb the next set of stairs

In fact, keep climbing until you get to a rather rickety staircase and reach the top-most rooms. Straight ahead, across a very wonky, Potter-esque landing, you will enter the Library.

The Library, Mira’s favorite room, is lined with a range of book covers from the Potter series, designed by MinaLima. Advanced Potion Making, A History of Magic and Gilderoy Lockhart’s Year with the Yeti are all featured, as are The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, The Tales of Beedle the Bard and in a place of pride above the mantle piece, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. 

Next door to the Library is the Wizarding Print room, with a classic selection of Daily Prophet front covers and snippets.

The first two rooms are the ones that make HoM feel most like an exhibition. This is in part the curation in choosing the artwork on display, and the superb framing work by Uckfield Framing Company, but also the small details scattered around each room. From wall cabinets in the Library, packed with the original books, to the Print Room’s stacks of Daily Prophets and a chest full of aged copies of the paper and old printing devices. These treats, some props from the films, and others, trinkets from MinaLima’s own collection, are well worth keeping an eye out for.

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Descending back down the newspaper-lined staircase, you find yourself at the aptly named Marauder’s Map Floor.

If you can tear your eyes off the incredible floor design, this room is more varied in the items on display and much, much brighter! This is largely thanks to the delightful Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes corner.

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The final floor of the exhibition features MinaLima’s Collective Nouns collection. Definitely take the time to explore this room. While it might may not be Potter related, it is no less delightful to see their design talent on display – and to learn a thing or two about collective nouns!

And last, but certainly not least, there is the shop! A clear continuation of the exhibition above, there is plenty to enjoy, as well as to buy. Options include replicas of the Hogwarts exercise book, note cards, and of course, some of the prints seen on the previous three floors.

The House of MinaLima is an absolute treat and one of the easier, and quieter, spots in London to get your hands on some Harry Potter merchandise. And even better, it is just a stone’s throw away from the Palace Theatre, where Cursed Child will be playing from June 7.

The House of MinaLima is free to enter and is open from 12 p.m. every day of the week, until February. For more information, check out the MinaLima website.

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