All About London: Wellcome Collection - This October: Dance the Pain Away

Friday 24 September 2021

Wellcome Collection - This October: Dance the Pain Away

A free museum and library exploring health and human experience

Photograph of a man wearing a face mask exploring an exhibition gallery space. He is wearing a white t-shirt with thin black horizontal stripes and jeans. His hands are clasped behind his back. The gallery around him has a warm yellow and pink tone. Directly in front of him is a large photographic print of a person in full length, frozen in a performative pose. Hung on the wall to the right is a cluster of 6 framed pen and ink drawings, 3 across by 2 high, showing in one a skull, in another a bird cage and in another a series of hands.

Wed 20–Fri 22 Oct

Free | Event series | Part of On Happiness season

This October, join us to explore the redemptive power of joy through social dance in Dance the Pain Away, a series of online events curated by artist Harold Offeh to accompany his installation ‘Joy Inside Our Tears’. You’ll find the events listed below.

Also, watch a series of interviews with contemporary artists whose work features in our Joy and Tranquillity exhibitions, including Amalia Pica, David Shrigley, Jasleen Kaur and Stefanie Posavec. Discover the stories behind their work, and how they find happiness.

Watch now

Events & exhibitions

Photograph of a laptop on a desk, on the screen is a photographic portrait of Dr Kate Lister sat at a table with a selection of archive material from Wellcome Collection’s sex worker card collection laid out in front of her. Around the laptop is an open notebook and pen, a pile of books and pens in a pot. In the background are bookshelves.

Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts

Thu 30 Sep, 18:00–19:00

Discussion | Free | Online Event | Speech-to-text

Join Kate Lister to delve into the hidden history of the world’s oldest profession. Kate will discuss her new book and share stories of those who sold sex for a living, in an entertaining and informative discussion.

Kate Lister’s book ‘Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts: A History of Sex for Sale’ is published by Thames & Hudson in partnership with Wellcome Collection on 7 October 2021.

An illustrated image, on a yellow background, featuring a video screen with two people in colourful clothing sitting on chairs facing each other with speech bubbles coming out of their mouths. Below the screen are the words "Who wants to be happy?" in capital letters on different coloured squares.

Who wants to be happy?

Sat 2 Oct, 11.00–13.00

In this series of free workshops, artist Jamie Hale invites you to consider the nature of happiness. From inside our heads to the outside world, these creative workshops will explore what happiness is – and isn’t – through art, activism and science.

Join Jamie and author Lucy Jones for Do We Need Nature?, a creative workshop about the relationship between nature and the mind.

Photograph of a laptop on a desk. On the laptop screen is a portrait of Harold Offeh sitting on a sofa with his arms spread out across the back of the sofa and his legs crossed. Harold is wearing glasses, a red jacket, and a white shirt. Next to the laptop are headphones and a postcard showing a still from Joy Inside Our Tears, four photographs of performers each monotone with a bright yellow tone overlayed.

Harold Offeh in Conversation

Wed 20 Oct, 19.00–20.00

Discussion | Free | British Sign Language | Speech-to-text | Audio described

Part of Dance the Pain Away

Watch a screening of ‘The Joy Inside Our Tears’, Harold Offeh’s installation in our ‘Joy’ gallery. Then listen to a conversation between Harold and curator George Vasey. They will discuss Harold’s inspiration, from queer communities of colour in 1990s danceathons to medieval dancing plagues, and talk about making art about collective joy during a national lockdown.

Photograph of a laptop on a desk with a blue patterned surface. On the laptop screen is a portrait of Gaylene Goud, Rene Matić, Ben Walters and Queer House Party. Next to the laptop are headphones and a pink card. In the background is a LP vinyl record leaning against a bright green cabinet.

Social Dance and Traumatic Histories

Thu 21 Oct, 19.00–20.30

Discussion | Free | British Sign Language | Speech-to-text | Audio described

Part of Dance the Pain Away

Listen to a panel discussion on collective dance as an antidote to traumatic histories, in response to Harold Offeh's installation. From queer lockdown throwdowns to the survival tactics of tap dances in post-war Britain, hear how we have responded to, and continue to respond to, difficult times with joy and dance.

Photograph of a laptop on a desk. On the laptop screen are four vertical photographs placed side to side, each monotone, but with a bright yellow tone overlaid. Each image shows an individual in a performative pose. On the far left a woman facing the camera just appears into view holding her arm up bent at the elbow, fingers splayed, one hand almost touching the other. The image to right of this one shows a man facing away from the camera hands pushing against a plain wall, leaning hard against it. The image to the right of this shows a man lying on his back on the floor, neck arched back with one foot raised against a plain wall. The image on the far right show a woman just disappearing out of the frame, facing away from the camera. She is standing with her legs crossed and her left arm raised level with her shoulders and bent at the elbow. On the laptop screen are videocall icons, and a red telephone icon. Around the laptop is a houseplant, lamp and headphones.

Choreographing Joy

Fri 22 Oct, 15.00–16.30

Workshop | Free | British Sign Language

Part of Dance the Pain Away

Experience the power of dance in an online movement workshop with choreographer Vania Gala. Following a warm-up, Gala will introduce you to the meditative and trance-like state that dance can evoke as you move to music from Harold Offeh’s ‘The Joy Inside Our Tears’ installation. No previous experience required.

Photograph of a tablet standing on a green cabinet next to two houseplants and a book. The book has a bright orange cover with an illustration of a key and white label. The book titles appear on the key's label in black text "Happiness, A Mystery & 66 attempts to solve it" by "Sophie Hannah". A photographic portrait of Sophie Hannah is on the tablet screen with video call icons "People", "Chat" and a red telephone icon.

Happiness, a Mystery

Mon 25 Oct, 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.

Discover more online

Stories

Aerial colour photograph of a large salt flat in Bolivia. The landscape is made up of a flat white expanse stretching away into the far distance where a small ridge of wavy mountains gives way to a cloudless blue sky. At the bottom of the image the white expanse meets a margin with grown earth. The surface of both the white and brown landscape are scarred with many sinewy vehicle tracks, snaking out and crisscrossing the ground all the way to the horizon.

Lithium Mania

Serial

After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Laura Grace Simpkins began to take lithium. She was spellbound – at first. But she soon began to have doubts about this mysterious drug, one that stabilised her mood but stole her pizzazz. Here she investigates her relationship with her medication and her mental health, asking if lithium is the bitter pill she has to swallow.

View all Stories

Beyond Wellcome

Outwitting Cancer

The Frances Crick Institute | Free | Exhibition | 25 Sep–15 Jul 2022

Meet the trailblazing scientists who, in the cutting-edge labs of the Crick, are helping to turn the tide on one of the world’s biggest killers. Through an immersive art-installation, and a series of extraordinary films, you’ll discover the big questions, hopes and challenges that drive these remarkable scientists to try and outsmart this constantly evolving disease.

A close up high definition colour photograph of a fly, with its black and green speckled eye and its mouth covered with small hairs in centre frame

Infections and Their Routes of Transmission by Professor Chris Whitty

Gresham College at the Museum of London | Free | Event series | Starting 13 Oct

Infections are transmitted by five main routes into your body: respiratory; insect vectors; sexual; food and drink; touch. Understanding these routes can help predict epidemics and control infections.

Georgie Meadows: Stitched Drawings

Free Space Project | Free | Exhibition | Until 6 Oct

This exhibition brings together 24 textile artworks which explore personal experiences of ageing and dementia. Meadows, a Monmouth based artist and retired occupational therapist, crafts uniquely affecting and compassionate portraits, translating line drawings of people she knows or has cared for into stitched works.