All About London: Wellcome Collection - This August: Discover Tranquillity and Joy this summer

Sunday, 1 August 2021

Wellcome Collection - This August: Discover Tranquillity and Joy this summer

A free museum and library exploring health and human experience

Two masked visitors engaged in a video at the Joy exhibition at Wellcome.

Discover Tranquillity and Joy, in-venue and online

Open now | Free | On Happiness season | Booking required

Audio | British Sign Language | Transcripts available

“Genuine happiness does not depend on outer sensory pleasures but on the inner joy that arises from a well-tamed mind. Happiness comes with a mind that cultivates kindness and compassion both for ourselves and for others.”

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

You can listen to the digital guides for the 'Joy’ and ‘Tranquillity’ exhibitions online, which feature 24 perspectives from medicine, science, religion and poetry, and audio descriptions of some artworks. Book your free visit and experience the exhibitions in-venue too.

Find out more

Events & exhibitions

Happiness, a Mystery

Thurs 29 July, 18.00–19.00

Library Insights | Free | Online event | Discussion | Speech-to-text

Join celebrated crime writer Sophie Hannah in this online event unravelling the mystery of happiness. Sophie will discuss her new book and how she has used her decades of experience in crime writing and observations from her own life to scrutinise and solve the clues that lead to happiness.

4 children with an adult posing to recreate the artwork behind them. The artwork behind them depicts a family.

Summer fun for families

On now

Free | On Happiness season | Guide

This summer keep your little ones happy with the On Happiness family guide. With fun activities based on the exhibitions Joy and Tranquillity, your whole family can enjoy all that Wellcome Collection has to offer.

Activity guides are free when you visit, make sure you book your free tickets now.

Book - Something out of place: Women and disgust by Eimear Mcbride in a green and pink background.

Something out of Place: Women & Disgust by Eimear McBride

Out 12 August

RRP £9.99

“A fierce and fascinating manifesto in McBride’s persuasive prose”

Sinéad Gleeson

A blistering essay from Eimear McBride, unpicking the contradictory forces of disgust and objectification that surround women. She asks, how can we give our daughters (and sons) the unbounded futures we want for them?

A 60's poster of an individual laying floor vynils with a tub of what looks like glue.

Laughing at disaster

Stories

Article

We often joke about the challenges we face, fighting our fears and sadness with humour. If having a laugh can help us cope when the worst happens, could comedy be a useful tool for getting serious about environmental collapse?

Anxious and overwhelmed by bad news, Isabella Kaminski finds relief in making fun of the climate crisis.

Discover more online

Stories

Mixed media digital artwork combining found imagery from vintage magazines and books with painted and textured elements. The overall hues are pastel blues, pinks and greys with elements of harsh reds and greens. At the centre of the artwork is a young boy from the chest up, holding an open book in his hands in front of his face, such that his nose and mouth are obscured. On the cover of the book is a large yellow curved line running from the back cover, across the spine and to the front cover. The placement of this line makes it look like a smile on the boy's face where his mouth would be. His eyes look towards the viewer, welling slightly with tears. Above his head is a small sign written in red capital letters which spells, 'FIN'. Behind his head are 2 other scenes. To the left is a seascape with 2 large mountains on the horizon, one is a representation of the eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings. In the ocean below is a small row boat containing two characters holding paddles. These characters resemble Frodo and Sam, also from Lord of the Rings. To the right is a scene showing a young boy and girl dressed in 1950s American era clothes. They are playing golf. The girl has a large smile on her face and has a golf club raised behind her head, about to strike a golf ball resting on a 'T' in the grass. The golf ball appears to be on fire. The boy is standing on the other side of the ball facing away from the girl. He has his hands on his hips and his head bend towards the floor. His has an upset, sulking expression on his face. Behind them both is a blue sky with white fluffy clouds.

The Happiness Quest

Serial

When will we find happiness? In this six-part serial, Kate Wilkinson pursues our experiences of happiness at different times in our lives: childhood, adolescence, youth, middle and old age. She asks about the things that might bring us happiness – fantasy stories, mind-altering drugs, lifestyle minimalism, music and vegetables – and talks to people, from young to old, about their own pursuit of happiness. Happiness may be the ultimate goal of our lives, or something that we find along the way.

Happiness in time

This is a MOOD

Chemical highs and psychedelic research

View all stories

Beyond Wellcome

A cartoon of Alice from Alice in Wonderland holding a bird by its feet. Alice is posing to strike something using the bird as a golf stick.

Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser

V&A Museum | Open until 31 December

Take an immersive and fantastical journey down the rabbit hole. Explore the evolution of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from theatre, fashion, photography and more.

An image of an individual staring at artwork found at the Thomas Becket exhibition.

Thomas Becket: murder and the making of a saint

British Museum | Until 22 August 2021

Marvel at miracles attributed to Thomas Becket – from curing leprosy to reversing castration – in a six-metre-tall stained glass window

featured at the centre of this five-star exhibition.

A black and white image of Eimear Mcbride.

A Night in with Eimear McBride

Fane | Online streaming | Booking required | 5 Sept, 18.30

Join the acclaimed author of A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, Eimear McBride in conversation with Alex Clarke, as she explores her blistering non-fiction debut – a searing polemic interrogating the twin evils of misogyny and sexual objectification of women.