The Welcome Collection is a short(ish) brisk walk up to the Euston Road opposite Euston Station. 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.
Bedlam: the asylum and beyond
UNTIL 15 JAN
FREE EXHIBITION | DROP IN
'Bedlam: the asylum and beyond' traces the rise and fall of the mental asylum by following the story of one such institution, Bethlem Royal Hospital in London, known in popular slang as Bedlam.
The exhibition focuses on the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of individuals who inhabited the asylum or created alternatives to it - their voices have shaped the meaning of mental illness and the current landscape of mental health care.
Pick up an audio companion, which brings together interviews, spoken word and other audio pieces developed by creative practitioners with lived experience of mental health issues.
https://wellcomecollection.org/bedlam
Making Nature: How we see animals
UNTIL 21 MAY
FREE EXHIBITION | DROP IN
No matter how you see nature now, you’ll never see it the same way again.
‘Making Nature: How we see animals’ examines what we think, feel and value about other species and the consequences this has for the world around us. It brings together over 100 fascinating objects from literature, film, taxidermy and photography to reveal the hierarchies in our view of the natural world and consider how these influence our actions, or inactions, towards the planet.
https://wellcomecollection.org/MakingNature
Packed Lunch: Medical Robotics
WEDNESDAY 25 JAN, 13.00-14.00
FREE TALK | FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED
Feed your curiosity at our daytime discussions. Drop in to hear local scientists in conversation about their latest experiments, life in the lab and why science matters to everyone, all in the space of your lunch hour. Bring your sarnies with you to eat while you listen.
Surgery is increasingly benefiting from developments in robotic technology, but what does it mean to hand over control to a machine? Join Danail Stoyanov for a conversation about his work developing innovative robotic techniques to make surgery less invasive.
https://wellcomecollection.org/events/packed-lunch-medical-robotics
Library Insights: Fascinating Faces
THURSDAY 26 JAN, 18.00-19.00
FREE TALK | TICKETED
The face occupies a privileged position in relation to identity and emotional expression. But what can it reveal about the person? The pseudoscience of face-reading has a long and chequered past and in this event, we trace some of the highs and lows in its eyebrow-raising history.
https://wellcomecollection.org/events/fascinating-faces-3
Friday Late Spectacular: Wild Ones
FRIDAY 3 FEB, 19.00–23.00
FREE TALK | BOOK FOR THIS TALK FROM JAN 27
Inspired by the photography of Charles Fréger’s Wilder Mann, Wild Ones takes its audience on an exploration of the many incarnations of the ‘Wild Man’ (and women and children) that exist in European folklore, fairytale, myth and legend.
Spend a night in the company of the wild ones – hairy ladies, iron men, feral children and others who help us define what it means to be human by testing societal norms.
Join the Crick Crack Club to explore who these wild ones are, the function they serve, our myriad reactions to them and why these potent characters populate our stories, our psyche and our reality.
This is a special late-night event with a bar running all night. The majority of activities are drop-in, but some talks need booking in advance.
https://wellcomecollection.org/events/friday-late-spectacular-wild-ones
Booking for January events opens at 11.00 on Friday 6 January.
You can book online by following the links above, or phone 020 7611 2222.