Had a wonderful, if surreal night at the Science Museum this evening, for the opening party of the Wallace & Gromit Present: A World of Cracking Ideas, their new exhibition, which opens on Saturday and runs until November.

The exhibition is a collaboration between Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman, the Intellectual Property Office, the Science Museum and an exhibit design company SG Productions. It’s squarely aimed at children, but with some nods to the accompanying adults. For the opening party, kids, families, Aardman creatives, MPs and business types in suits all explored the exhibition together.

What interested me the most (perhaps as I got to wear both my science communication and my R&D Society thinking hats on at the exhibition) was the theme of the exhibition: it’s not about science or technology.

Rather, it’s an exhibition about ideas, about creativity and about how science, engineering and technology developments do or don’t get exploited for commercial and social gain. It’s about one of themes of science and technology, but it goes beyond science, into discussion and exploration of the importance of brands, design and the creative industries.

So the development of various household objects – phones, vacuum cleaners and wellies – sit alongside plasticine modelling areas, games based on Wallace and Gromit contraptions, shower karaoke, music creation, cog building and the original seals used to seal patents.

Being sponsored by the Intellectual Property Office, the Government body responsible for keeping an eye on the UK’s intellectual property (IP) governance, it’s a fairly uncritical exploration of IP – trademarks, design rights, copyright and patenting. The overriding message seemed to be “use IP, make a fortune”. It would have been nice to perhaps see something more about the problems with IP, or the merits of giving things away. For example, the exhibition (rightly) celebrates the invention of Braille, and the social benefits that has brought society, but I didn’t spot a mention that Louis Braille, as far as I know, didn’t get a patent or other IP right on his system.

But that’s a small criticism for a really interesting, well-thought out and nicely designed exhibition, that seemed to balance fun, play, museum objects and Wallace and Gromit themselves. I drew tessellating digital wallpaper with Jon Tickle, coloured in my design for a smoothie bottle while talking to an IP law consultant, and slid down Wallace and Gromit’s plughole twice. David Lammy, in the introductory speeches, said that he hoped the exhibition would inspire children to invent and create for the benefit of British society and taxpayers in many years hence. That’s a pretty tall order, but it might just succeed.