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Wellcome Collection - I had no idea!

I had no idea what was behind the doors of the Wellcome Collection in NW1 and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, it's fantastic! The WC explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. Established under Sir Henry Wellcome's will in 1936, it echos his passion for medicine and displays many pieces from his collection of over a million objects.

As you walk into the main entrance you are greeted by Anthony Gormley's cast iron figure hanging upside down which is certainly eye-catching and very appropriate given the Collection's link to the human body.


There are usually several exhibitions on at any given time including a cross-section of Henry Wellcome's extraordinary collection of objects. I was quite fascinated by the exhibition titled 'The Body' which examines new techniques and ways of looking at out internal biological structures and functions.

This glass sculpture by Luke Jerram represents the swine flu virus, subtype N1H1 and was blown by glassblowers Brian Jones and Norman Veitch


This sculpture by Anne Cattrell is one of a series that shows the activity patterns of the human brain as it represents one of each of the five senses. MRI scans were produced then converted into three-dimensional physical structures of amber resin using a rapid-prototyping process.


This etching by Heather Barnett (working with Infoterra Mapping Company) was produced using three-dimensional mapping technologies more commonly used to create Ordinance Survey maps. It represents a young man's face with contour lines etched into stainless steel and I love it, really effective.
 


Moving on to the permanent exhibition of Sir Henry Wellcome's objects. With over a million pieces in his collection, they are regularly rotated so that you can see a good cross-section at any one time. Wellcome had a strong interest in the links between anthropology and health. Ethnographic material, including a huge number of masks, make up more than one half of the collection.


There is also an impressive cabinet full of medical instruments, used for a variety of procedures such as limb amputation some of which are quite alarming!



.......but none more so than this little gem which I shall leave you with!........


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