27 September 08
www.wellcomecollection.org
The Wellcome Collection provides a permanent home for some of the most mind-boggling objects gathered from around the world...
Opened in June 2007, this interesting museum and multi-use exhibition space contains the personal collection of the late pharmacist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Henry Wellcome.
Stand out items include: a lock of George III’s hair, Nelson’s Razor, Napoleon’s toothbrush, Darwin’s walking stick, Florence Nightingale’s moccasins and the guillotine blade used to execute Jean-Baptiste Carrier. Items of particular medical and social interest include early x-ray images, stethoscopes and enema syringes, 19th century sex aids, a Chinese torture chair, a scold’s bridle, a iron chastity belt, a 14th-century Peruvian Mummy and 19th-century amputation saws... (Not for the faint hearted then...)
While @ the Wellcome collection, we also enjoyed - Medicine Now... An exhibition that 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 through the medium of contemporary art. The most memorable exhibit had to be 'I Can't help the way I feel' by John Isaacs. Shown below (left), with 'the matrix of Amnesia'. Both formed from wax, resin and polystyrene... yuck!
8 out of 10
