Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183

Euston Road Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the Wellcome Collection attracts over 550,000 visitors per year. The venue offers contemporary and historic exhibitions and collections, the

Wellcome Library The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of med ...

, a café, a bookshop and conference facilities. In addition to its physical facilities, Wellcome Collection maintains a website of original articles and archived images related to health.

History and development

Wellcome Collection is part of the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

, founded by Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853–1936). An extensive and enthusiastic traveller, Henry Wellcome amassed a huge collection of books, paintings and objects on the theme of historical development of medicine worldwide. There was an earlier Wellcome Historical Medical Museum at 54a

Wigmore Street Wigmore Street is a street in the City of Westminster, in the West End of London. The street runs for about 600 yards parallel and to the north of Oxford Street between Portman Square to the west and Cavendish Square to the east. It is named aft ...

, housing artefacts from around the world. The Wellcome Trust moved its administrative offices into their new Gibbs Building (designed for the Trust by Michael Hopkins and Partners) on the adjoining site in Euston Road, completed 2004: thereby creating an opportunity for a new public venue in the old Wellcome Building. The collection opened to the public in June 2007. Due to its historical holdings, the Wellcome Collection is a member of

The London Museums of Health & Medicine The London Museums of Health & Medicine is a group that brings together some of the activities of several museums in London, England, related to health and medicine. The group was founded in 1991. The museums and medical organisations are: *Al ...

group. Having been open since 2007, Wellcome Collection re-opened with additional public spaces in October 2015. Melanie Keen took over as the director of the Wellcome Collection in 2019.

Wellcome Library

Three leeches in the role of physicians attend a grasshopper in the role of the patient and announce a course of bloodletting Wellcome V0011722

The

provides access to collections of books, manuscripts, archives, films and pictures on the history of medicine from the earliest times to the present day.

The Hub

Located on the 5th floor of the Collection, The Hub is a space for researchers to collaborate, which "brings together different voices and expertise as part of an experiment to see what new knowledge can be created". The first residents of The Hub, Hubbub, explored the dynamics of "rest, noise, tumult, activity and work" from October 2014 to July 2016. In October 2016-July 2018 Created Out of Mind, a group exploring dementia and the arts began their residency. "Many of the group’s core members came from the Dementia Research Centre (DRC) at University College London. The team aimed to explore what dementia means to all of us, as well as challenging definitions of the condition". From 2018 to 2020, award-winning creative arts company and charity Heart n Soul took up residency at The Hub "exploring ideas like ‘normality’ and the value of difference between us all".

The Reading Room

Refurbished in 2015 as part of the Wellcome Collection's 2015 renovation, the Reading Room is open to the public.

Collections

One of the halls of the Wellcome Collection, London

The collection is divided into several galleries. "Being Human" is a permanent exhibition opened in 2019 designed with the helped of disabled artists and activists within the frame of the

social model of disability The social model of disability identifies systemic barriers, derogatory attitudes, and social exclusion (intentional or inadvertent), which make it difficult or impossible for disabled people to attain their valued functionings. The social mode ...

, making it one of the world's most accessible galleries. "Being Human" explores what it means to be human in the 21st century with a focus on personal stories, and is split into four parts: genetics, minds & bodies, infection, and environmental breakdown. It includes art by Yinka Shonibare CBE,

Latai Taumoepeau Latai Taumoepeau (born 1972) is an Australian contemporary artist. She is best known for her performance art, which explores the politics of race, colour and power in Australia. She has shown her works in leading Sydney galleries and venues incl ...

Kia LaBeija Kia LaBeija (born Kia Michelle Benow; March 18, 1990) is an American fine artist. Her most well known series, ''24,'' is a sociopolitical commentary on the effects of growing up as a young woman of color with HIV. She is a former Mother of the ...

, Mary Beth Heffernan, and Isaac Murdoch's "Water is Life" banner designed for the Standing Rock protests. The museum previously hosted the "Medicine Man" which was a permanent exhibition displaying a small part of Henry Wellcome's collection. The exhibition closed permanently on 27th November 2022 after running for fifteen years. While part of an ongoing programme to update how the collection is displayed, the closure was perceived to be a result of concerns over "''racist, sexist and ableist theories and language''". The main exhibition space hosts a changing programme of events and exhibitions. The space has included work by Felicity Powell and

Bobby Baker Robert Gene Baker (November 12, 1928 – November 12, 2017) was an American political adviser to Lyndon B. Johnson, and an organizer for the Democratic Party. He became the Senate's Secretary to the Majority Leader. In 1963, he resigned during ...

. The building foyer and public areas usually include a 1950 work by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

(originally on a wall in

John Desmond Bernal John Desmond Bernal (; 10 May 1901 – 15 September 1971) was an Irish scientist who pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography in molecular biology. He published extensively on the history of science. In addition, Bernal wrote popular book ...

's flat in

Torrington Square __NOTOC__ Torrington Square is a square in Bloomsbury, owned by the University of London, located in central London, England. Today it is a square in name only, most of the houses having been demolished by the university. The southern end of th ...

) and one by

Anthony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pl ...

. A figure by

Marc Quinn Marc Quinn (born 8 January 1964) is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, ident ...

was originally lying unprotected on the stone floor, then moved inside a glass case, and is also not currently on view. The collection includes 17,500 magic-medical amulets, talismans and charms picked up by Henry Wellcome in Islamic North Africa and elsewhere in the world. (citing an article of

Lawrence Conrad Lawrence Irvin Conrad (born 1949) is a British historian and scholar of Oriental studies, specializing in Near Eastern studies and the history of medicine. He currently serves as historian for the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine in ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Art museums and galleries in London Medical museums in London Museums in the London Borough of Camden Wellcome Trust Art museums established in 2007 2007 establishments in England