Friday 28 April 2017

What's On in May at Wellcome Collection

Wellcome Collection, A Free Destination for the incurably curious. What's On
Booking for events opens at 11.00 on Friday 28 April.
You can book online with our ticketing system by following the links below, or you can call us on 020 7611 2222.
  LAST CHANCE - FREE EXHIBITION
UNTIL 21 MAY 2017
FREE | DROP IN
Organised around four themes – ‘Ordering’, ‘Displaying’, ‘Observing’ and ‘Making’ – this exhibition questions the approach of ‘learning through looking’, charts the changing fashions of museum displays alongside society’s changing attitudes to the world around us, examines the search for an authentic encounter with nature, and looks at how humans have intentionally altered other organisms.

The book 'Animal Vegetable Mineral' accompanies the exhibition.

  REMAKING NATURE WEEKEND
THURSDAY 4 MAY-SUNDAY 7 MAY
FREE  | DROP IN WITH SOME TICKETED EVENTS, BOOK FROM 28 APR
Shape our upcoming exhibition 'A museum of modern nature' by joining us for a weekend of collecting, talks and activities exploring your personal connections with nature.

We’re asking you, our visitors, to bring in an object that tells a story about your relationship with nature. The most intriguing and thought-provoking selection of objects will then go on display in our new exhibition.

There will be talks and activities across the weekend, so come along with your friends and family to explore what nature means to you. 

Activities on Saturday will be BSL interpreted and audio-described, and we are open late on Thursday and Friday until 22.00. 

  FREE EVENT SERIES
WEDNESDAY 10 MAY, 13.30-14.30
FREE | DROP IN, GRANT MUSEUM
Join zoologist Dan Nicholson to hear his tales of adventure in the Dominican Republic,
investigating the natural history of the elusive mountain chicken frog.



Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, 1982. Richard Ross

THURSDAY 11 MAY, 18.00-18.45
FREE | DROP IN
Talita Jenman ran the Arts & Culture programme at ZSL London Zoo. She has also just finished an MA in Art and Visual Culture, specialising in animals and their representation on social media.
      
There is no need to book (though spaces are limited). Just meet your guide beside the Information Point on level 0.



Allora & Calzadilla, 'The Great Silence', 2014. Courtesy of Lisson Gallery.

THURSDAY 18 MAY, 19.00-20.30
FREE | BOOK FROM 28 APR
We are responsible for the dramatic loss of animal life, but we also have the power to reverse that trend.

In this second of two 'When Species Meet' events, join us as we open up a discussion on the successes, the innovations and the politics of conservation.


Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, 1982 (2). Richard Ross
THURSDAY 18 MAY, 18.00-18.45 
FREE | DROP IN
Seirian Sumner is Reader in Behavioural Ecology at UCL. She is also a co-founder of Soapbox Science, a public engagement project promoting women scientists.
  
There is no need to book (though spaces are limited). Just meet your guide beside the Information Point on level 0.


Wellcome Library, London
  FREE EXHIBITION
UNTIL 25 JUNE 2017
FREE | DROP IN
From the first breaths of Frankenstein's monster to the brutal simplicity of the execution chair, this exhibition contemplates the contradictory life-giving and death-dealing extremes generated by electricity, and traces the story of how humanity has striven to understand, unlock and gain control over this invisible and yet all-encompassing force, which continues to mystify and amaze.

One of the commissioned works in 'Electricity' contains strobe effects. The rest of the exhibition can be visited without entering the installation. Please contact us if you would like to know more.
     
The book 'A Practical Course in Personal Magnetism' accompanies the exhibition.  
  
  EVENT SERIES

SATURDAY 20 MAY, 14.00–15.00 
FREE | DROP IN

Peter Watts is an experienced journalist and author. In his latest book, ‘Up in Smoke: The failed dreams of Battersea Power Station', Watts examines the turbulent journey of this iconic London building.

There is no need to book (though spaces are limited). Just meet your guide beside the Information Point on level 0.

› Perspective tour – find out more
TUESDAY 23 MAY, 14.00–15.00 
FREE | BOOK FROM 28 APR
Artist John Gerrard speaks with curator Brian Dillon about his new work, 'X.Laevis (Spacelab) 2017', which takes inspiration from Luigi Galvani’s famous experiments investigating bioelectricity.

› John Gerrard in Conversation – find out more
FRIDAY 16 & SATURDAY 17 JUN, 19.30-22.00
£45 FULL PRICE/£35 CONCESSIONS | BOOK IN ADVANCE
Food designers Blanch & Shock and historian Helen Peavitt present a dinner about how the fridge changed what we eat and how we eat it. Experience a bespoke menu that questions what it means for food to be kept fresh, looking at both the gastronomic advantages and what we lose in taste and texture.
       
In collaboration with Wellcome Kitchen, our restaurant on level 2.
       
› FRESH: Adventures in refrigeration – find out more
  FREE EVENTS
FRIDAY 5 MAY, 18.00-22.00 
FREE | DROP IN
Join us this for this month's First Friday - part of our Remaking Nature weekend!

As well as being able to visit our exhibitions and relax in the cafe and restaurant, bring us an object that tells a story about your relationship with nature.

THURSDAY 11 MAY, 19.00-20.30 
FREE | BOOK FROM 28 APR
Join Created out of Mind collaborators for a discussion exploring how dementias are represented in the media, in music and through stories. How might we open up new conversations about dementias through different representations?

With science writer Philip Ball, researcher Nicholas Firth, and artist and composer Hannah Peel.  

THURSDAY 18 MAY, 18.00-19.00 
FREE | BOOK FROM 28 APRIL

Selling condoms at a time when contraception was not easily discussed was a real challenge. So in the mid-part of the 20th century, how did the London Rubber Company get to grips with overcoming marketing restrictions and the later emergence of the contraceptive pill? 

Hear the fascinating story of a unique London-based latex product.

› Capital Condoms – find out more
WEDNESDAY 31 MAY, 13.00-14.00
FREE | DROP IN
Keir Yong will discuss the work of the Pedestrian Accessibility Movement Environment Laboratory (PAMELA) at University College London. 

This unique lab simulates real-world settings to explore how characteristics of the physical environment (eg lighting or clutter) may influence the ability of people with dementia-related visual impairment to carry out everyday activities.

  THE 2017 ROY PORTER LECTURE
WEDNESDAY 24 MAY, 18.30–19.30
FREE | BOOK FROM 28 APR
Prof Roger Luckhurst will trace how the corridor became a site of unease, taking in evidence from 18th-century philosophers, via Victorian asylum and hospital designs, to present-day horror films.

  BOOKS
£7.99 | AVAILABLE NOW

Drawn from the original self-help bestsellers of the Victorian age, this book presents a comprehensive guide to unleashing your inner charisma and finding success, in love, business and beyond.

Published by Wellcome Collection to accompany 'Electricity'.


£12.99 | AVAILABLE NOW

Celebrate the beauty and strangeness of the 'infographics', charts and ordering systems used to classify and understand nature in the 18th and 19th centuries, from taxonomy diagrams to distribution maps and colour dictionaries.
      
Published by Wellcome Collection to accompany 'Making Nature'.
      

£8.99 | AVAILABLE NOW

Days before the birth of his first son, Professor John M Hull started to go blind. This forgotten memoir, which inspired the BIFA- and Emmy-winning film 'Notes on Blindness', provides an extraordinary account of a journey into total blindness.
                                    
Published by Wellcome Collection.
    

£19.95 | AVAILABLE NOW

Probe the evolution of dentistry, from the excruciating endeavours of crude early practitioners to the swift and painless procedures and cosmetic surgery of today.
                
Published by Thames & Hudson in association with Wellcome Collection.
        

£14.99 | AVAILABLE FROM 4 MAY

Sound draws on the extraordinary experience of losing your hearing and - as Bella Bathurst eventually did - getting it back, revealing how our relationship with sound is both personal and far, far more complex than we might expect.
  
Published by Wellcome Collection.

£16.99 | AVAILABLE FROM 25 MAY

What happens when you reach the threshold of life and death - and come back? In this book, historian Emily Mayhew explores the modern reality of medicine and injury in wartime, from the trenches of World War One to the dusty plains of Afghanistan and the rehabilitation wards of Headley Court in Surrey.

Published by Wellcome Collection

 WTF: WONDER THINK FIND
Our new six-part digital story, richly illustrated with our collections, tells the history of our awe and wonder at electricity.


We look back at the importance of the head, from how it’s influenced our language to the bold political statement of having it removed.

› A body apart from the head – find out more
Artist John Gerrard talks about his new commission, a live simulation of an astronaut and a frog in zero gravity.

› John Gerrard – find out more
   
   
 WELLCOME ONLINE
Browse our Making Nature range online.

Butterflies, magnolias and moths beautifully illustrate our Making Nature range of teatowels, notebooks, platters and wall charts. Order online for delivery direct to you and revitalise your home with Wellcome Shop.
  


The Wellcome Image Awards are Wellcome’s most eye-catching celebration of science, medicine and life.

Check out this year's selection of images online, and vote for your favourite. You can also pick up a free exhibition guide available at Wellcome Collection, or see the images displayed outside Wellcome headquarters.

The Evidence, a collaboration between the BBC World Service and Wellcome Collection, is now available to listen to online.

The Evidence consists of five episodes, each tackling a different topic with expert speakers at the forefront of their field. Four of the events were recorded live in Wellcome Collection to accompany the Making Nature exhibition.
         
› The Evidence – find out more

   
   
  TOURS FOR THOSE WITH ACCESS REQUIREMENTS
SATURDAY 20 MAY, 11.00-11.45  
FREE | BOOK IN ADVANCE
Join us on a tour of 'Electricity: The spark of life' and explore electricity's contradictory life-giving and death-dealing extremes.This tour has been designed for British Sign Language users.
    
› BSL tour of Electricity – find out more
THURSDAY 25 MAY, 18.00-19.00
FREE | BOOK IN ADVANCE
Discover what experimental archaeology can teach us about some of the objects in our Medicine Man gallery. This will include a practical session at our hands-on trepanation station. This activity has been designed for British Sign Language users.
     

 BEYOND WELLCOME
UNTIL SUNDAY 14 MAY 
TICKETED CAMDEN PEOPLE'S THEATRE
Hotbed is CPT’s brand new festival of sex: three weeks of adventurous performance guaranteed to expand your carnal knowledge.


Come join us at CPT’s sexual congress for a bit of what you fancy – and more. Headlined by Louise Orwin’s OH YES OH NO.

› Hotbed: A Festival of Sex – find out more

SATURDAY 6 MAY UNTIL SUNDAY 28 MAY 
FREE | VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM
The V&A is proud to host Prix Pictet, the world’s leading award for photography and sustainability.  

This year’s theme for the award is ‘Space’, which includes subjects as diverse as overpopulation, territorial dispute, air pollution and cyber space.      
    
SATURDAY 6 & SUNDAY 7 MAY, 11.30 
TICKETED | SOUTHBANK CENTRE
Explore religion's impact on issues such as equality, education, prisons and fashion, in a weekend of talks and panel discussions.

› For Good or For Ill: How Has Religion Shaped Society? – find out more
UNTIL 24 SEPT 2017
TICKETED | THE COURTAULD GALLERY

The Courtauld Gallery cares for an important collection of twentieth century Bloomsbury Group works including paintings, drawings, watercolours and designs and decorative arts from the Omega Workshops.




This special display brings together a wide selection of work by this group.




› Bloomsbury Art & Design – find out more