Home EventsPart of Beyond Medicine Man

Handling Our Collections

, –
Past
  • Free
  • Audio described
Two people standing in a gallery looking at material on display in a glass case,

What you’ll do

Join our Visitor Experience Assistants in conversation about our collections, using objects related to the ‘Medicine Man’ exhibition. Our conversations will include discussions on colonialism and colonial violence, death, gender-based discrimination and sexual fetish. 

You’ll be able to handle the objects and share your thoughts on how Wellcome Collection should address the colonial legacy of its collections. You’ll also be able to share your thoughts by writing on boards around the room if you wish. 

The ‘Medicine Man’ exhibition, with its emphasis on our founder Henry Wellcome and his collecting, is closing. The replacement will still focus on our collections, but we want to know what you’d like to see in its place and how a new exhibition could be more inclusive and representative of our own experiences of life, health and death. 

Dates

, –
Past

Need to know

Location

We’ll be in the Studio on level 1. When you enter Wellcome Collection, head up the stairs or take the lift, then follow the signs.

Guaranteed place

For this event, booking a ticket guarantees you a place on the day. We advise arriving 15 minutes before the event starts to take your place.

Audio described

Key visual elements referred to during this event will be described.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call

Our event terms and conditions

About your facilitators

Black and white photograph of the head and shoulders of a young woman with short dark hair and round glasses. The woman is looking up and to the right.

Polly Bodetto

(she/her)

Polly is a library experience and engagement facilitator at Wellcome Collection and an art historian who loves the history of trade routes, collage making, and occultism.

Black and white photograph of a young woman's face looking sideways at the viewer and smiling.

Rosie Wassi

(she/her)

Rosie is a Visitor Experience Assistant at Wellcome Collection. She aims to inspire and encourage deep thinking, feeling and connection around collections and exhibitions by relating them to social, cultural, political and environmental issues of the day, with the goal of empowering individuals and groups from all walks of life to share their thoughts and lived experiences and maybe even to collaborate on change-making.

Lou Brook

(she/her)

Louise is a facilitator at Wellcome Collection with a background in heritage and conservation. Her research at Wellcome focuses on the stories behind objects and major events, bringing forward hidden histories and exploring topics previously considered ‘taboo’.

Black and white photograph of the face of a young white woman with fair hair looking straight at the viewer and smiling.

Jessica Rayner

(she/her)

Jessica is a visitor experience and engagement facilitator at Wellcome Collection and a freelance producer with a background in history, art and journalism. She is an advocate for inclusive creative practice and exploring multi-sensory engagement within museums and cultural spaces.