Wellcome Collection
Wellcome Collection is the free visitor destination for the incurably curious.
Located at 183 Euston Road, London, it explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The venue offers visitors contemporary and historic exhibitions and collections, lively public events, the world-renowned Wellcome Library, a café, a shop, a restaurant and conference facilities as well as publications, tours, a book prize, international and digital projects. Wellcome Collection is part of the Wellcome Trust.
Venue Type:
Gallery, Science centre, Library
Items from this collection
Collection details
Fine Art, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Personalities, Science and Technology, Weapons and War
Key artists and exhibits
- Charles Darwin
- Napoleon
- Mark Quinn
Medicine Now
- 1 November 2013 — 1 November 2018 *on now
This exhibition presents a range of ideas about science and medicine since Henry Wellcome's death in 1936. It reflects the experiences and interests of scientists, doctors and patients.
Within the huge field of medicine this exhibition attempts to focus on only a few topics: the body, genomes, obesity and living with medical science. Each is explored through a range of exhibits from science and everyday life, as well as artistic responses to the issues presented in red 'art cubes'.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Website
http://www.wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/medicine-now
Medicine Man
- 1 November 2014 — 1 November 2018 *on now
Henry Wellcome was a man of many parts: entrepreneur, philanthropist, patron of science and pioneer of aerial photography. He also created one of the world's great museums: a vast stockpile of evidence about our universal interest in health and the body.
More than 150 years after his birth in 1853, this exhibition reunites a cross-section of extraordinary objects from his collection, ranging from diagnostic dolls to Japanese sex aids, and from Napoleon's toothbrush to George III's hair. It also provides a very different perspective on some of our own obsessions with medicine and health.
In 'Medicine Man' some objects are gathered by type and others by broad cross-cultural themes. Seven other objects are presented individually and are examined by a variety of commentators from different backgrounds, to show that one object can mean many different things and tell many different stories.
This exhibition is free. See opening hours. Some non-flash photography is permitted in this exhibition. See our photography policy.
Suitable for
- Not suitable for children
Website
http://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/medicine-man
States of Mind: Tracing the edges of consciousness
- 4 February — 16 October 2016 *on now
Following on from 'States of Mind: Ann Veronica Janssens', this changing exhibition will examine perspectives from artists, psychologists, philosophers and neuroscientists to interrogate our understanding of the conscious experience.
Exploring phenomena such as somnambulism, mesmerism, and disorders of memory and consciousness, the exhibition will examine ideas around the nature of consciousness, and in particular what can happen when our typical conscious experience is interrupted, damaged or undermined.
Suitable for
- 14-15
- 18+
- 16-17
Website
http://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/states-mind-tracing-edges-consciousness
Bedlam: The asylum and beyond
- 15 September 2016 — 15 January 2017 *on now
Opening later this year, 'Bedlam: The asylum and beyond' will trace the rise and fall of the asylum through the lens of its proverbial home, Bethlem Royal Hospital. It will explore diverse and often contradictory ideas surrounding mental illness: how it is experienced
how medicine, art and society have sought to define and treat it
and how we might come to terms with it in the future.
With an emphasis on individuals’ lived experiences, it will include patient art and works by contemporary artists to consider successive incarnations of the hospital and respond to the modern, post-asylum world, in which prescription medications coexist with community projects, creative therapies, online community support and spiritual approaches.
This Way Madness Lies: The asylum and beyond, a beautiful book produced to accompany the exhibition, will be available from the Wellcome Shop and online.
Suitable for
- 14-15
- 16-17
- 18+
Website
http://wellcomecollection.org/bedlam
Getting there
The nearest mainline stations are Euston, St Pancras and King's Cross.
The nearest tube stations are Euston Square, Euston and Warren Street.
The following buses pass near Wellcome Collection:
10, 18, 24, 27, 29, 30, 59, 68, 73, 88, 91, 134, 168, 205, 253, 390
Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road
London
Greater London
NW1 2BE
England
Website
Watch the trailer for Forensics: the anatomy of crime
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t2Yqdj7k4Q&feature=youtu.be
General enquiries
Media enquiries
Telephone
020 7611 2222
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