Wellcome Collection
Established | 2007 |
---|---|
Location | Euston Road London, NW1 United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°31′33″N 0°08′02″W / 51.525944°N 0.133889°W |
Type | Museum, library |
Collections | history of medicine |
Visitors | 550,000 per annum, as of 2013[1] |
Founder | Henry Wellcome |
Director | Melanie Keen |
Public transit access | Euston Square Euston |
Website | wellcomecollection |
Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, England, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art".[2] Founded in 2007, the Wellcome Collection attracts over 550,000 visitors per year.[1] The venue offers contemporary and historic exhibitions and collections, the Wellcome Library, 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.[3]
History and development
Wellcome Collection is part of the
The Wellcome Trust moved its administrative offices into their new Gibbs Building (designed for the Trust by
Due to its historical holdings, the Wellcome Collection is a member of
Having been open since 2007, Wellcome Collection re-opened with additional public spaces in October 2015.[7]
Melanie Keen took over as the director of the Wellcome Collection in 2019.[8]
Wellcome Library
The Wellcome Library provides access to collections of books, manuscripts, archives, films and pictures on the history of medicine from the earliest times to the present day.[9]
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".[10]
The first residents of The Hub, Hubbub, explored the dynamics of "rest, noise, tumult, activity and work" from October 2014 to July 2016.[11]
In October 2016-July 2018 Created Out of Mind, a group exploring dementia and the arts began their residency.[12] "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".[13]
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".[14]
The Reading Room
Refurbished in 2015 as part of the Wellcome Collection's 2015 renovation,[7] the Reading Room is open to the public.
Collections
The collection is divided into several galleries. Being Human is a permanent exhibition opened in 2019 designed with the help of disabled artists and activists within the frame of the
The museum previously hosted Medicine Man, a permanent exhibition displaying a small part of Henry Wellcome's collection. The exhibition closed permanently on 27 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".[18][19]
The main exhibition space hosts a changing programme of events and exhibitions. The space has included work by Felicity Powell and Bobby Baker.
The building foyer and public areas usually include a 1950 work by
Wellcome Collection is digitising and openly licensing its collection; as of January 2020 it had made over 40 million images[24] from 325,000 items (books, manuscripts, archives, artworks, audio and video material etc.) available on wellcomecollection.org and via a range of third-party services.
References
- ^ a b "Wellcome Collection London Transformation / Wilkinson Eyre Architects". 16 June 2015.
- ^ Art Fund. "Museum of the Year". Art Fund.
- ^ "Stories". Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
- ^ "Error". wellcome.ac.uk.
- ^ Photograph: Felix Clay/freelance (20 June 2007). "The Wellcome Collection". The Guardian.
- ^ "Medical Museums". medicalmuseums.org. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ a b Houghton, Lauren (23 February 2015). "Wellcome Collection to reopen after £17.5m refurb". Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- ^ "Melanie Keen appointed Director of Wellcome Collection". Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ "Wellcome Library - Home". wellcomelibrary.org.
- ^ "The Hub at Wellcome Collection".
- ^ "Hubbub 'about' page".
- ^ "Exploration of dementia announced as second project of The Hub at Wellcome Collection". 24 March 2016.
- ^ "Created Out Of Mind".
- ^ "Heart n Soul at The Hub".
- ^ Marshall, Alex (6 September 2019). "Is This the World's Most Accessible Museum?". The New York Times.
- ^ "Being Human". Wellcome Collection.
- ^ "Being Human Captions". Wellcome Collection.
- ^ "Statement on the closure of our Medicine Man gallery". Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ "Wellcome Collection closes 'racist, sexist and ableist' Medicine Man display". BBC News. 27 November 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ "Bernal's Picasso Goes On Show In London At Wellcome Collection". culture24.org.uk.
- ^ "Antony Gormley". Telegraph.co.uk. 13 March 2007. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013.
- ^ White Cube. "Exhibitions – White Cube". whitecube.com.
- PMC 1037050. (citing an article of Lawrence Conrad).
- ^ "Wellcome Collection Digitisation Strategy" (PDF). January 2020.