The Thousands

Cats work hard for the money, so hard for the money… Well, in Japan’s cat cafes, they do. Said cafes witness cats getting paid for their company: visitors can pay for intimate encounters with professional pets, shelling out for a stroke, some affection – even a photo. The cafes are apparently a real hit amongst Japan’s many businessmen, whom, due to their demanding jobs, can’t look after a cat full time. The Museum of Natural Mystery’s first show for 2012, Cat Café, looks to facilitate a localised version of the Japanese cat café experience. An environment presided over by both real and non-real felines, Cat Café will showcase the personal cat paraphernalia collection of local arts worker/cat lover Katie Lenanton. The space will display visual memorials to Lenanton’s former cats and offer patrons the immersive experience of a ‘play session’ with real life kittens. The interactivity continues with the opportunity to sample different ice-cream flavours; to momentarily animorph ourselves and experience a cat’s desires by making literal the turn of phrase ‘the cat that got the cream’. ‘Fatty’, Lenanton’s much adored but recently deceased cat, will watch over the proceedings from on high. Not from heaven, just the gallery wall – that other Natural Museum has taxidermied Fatty, so now he can function not unlike the framed deity of a devout household.