Trapdoor to a Fantastical County Durham
Visit the Digital World
Activate AR on Palace Green
28th March – 18th April 2026
Community Space at the Courtyard Gallery, Palace Green, Durham
Plasticine sculptures, digital interactive world and AR walk. More details coming soon.
28th March
11am-12.30pm
Make a Plasticine Monster: drop-in workshop for children and adults
Trapdoor to a Fantastical County Durham presents a fantastical world of monsters, shapeshifting as physical sculptures, Augmented Reality (AR) creatures and as inhabitants of a 3D digital world. Inspired by the local legend that vampires are hiding behind a trapdoor in Durham Castle, Trapdoor to a Fantastical County Durham playfully explores the relation between myths and places. Created by students in schools across Country Durham, the monsters represent playful, and sometimes scary, mythical and nostalgic creatures who usually remain hidden within our imagination.
Trapdoor to a Fantastical County Durham is a collaboration between Paul Raymond and Strange Quark, an artist studio composed of James Stephen Wright and Polina Chizhova. The plasticine monsters were created by students at Walworth Primary School, Consett Academy, Wolsingham School and Durham 6th Form Centre.