The new nexus of art, science and medicine gets a celebrity endorsement.
Matt Brown
Left to right: Claire Matterson, Ken Arnold, James Watson, Mark Walport. Image by the author.
“As British people, you should feel proud,” remarked James Watson, opening the Wellcome Collection on Wednesday. The £30 million centre boasts three scientific galleries, a medical library, events spaces and other facilities for both the public and health professionals.
“The world has a very large number of art galleries, but not an equivalent number for science,” said Watson, before going on to criticise his homeland. “The US is a disgrace. There’s not a first-rate science museum in the whole country.”
Watson shared the stage with Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes, and Claire Matterson, Director of Medicine, Society and History. Matterson described how the new facilities draw on the legacy of Henry Wellcome, the Trust’s founder. “He would have been proud of this,” she said. “It is true to his original vision, but with a contemporary twist.”
Medical curios past and present
Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936) collected somewhere in the region of a million artefacts during his lifetime. Over 1000 of these are displayed in the permanent ‘Medicine Man’ exhibition on the first floor. These diverse acquisitions include artificial limbs, phallic amulets and a lock of King George III’s hair.
The neighbouring gallery, ‘Medicine Now’ looks at developments since Wellcome’s time. The exhibition space mixes modern scientific curios, such as a robot used in the Human Genome Project and droppings from Dolly the sheep, with artwork inspired by medicine, and interactive consoles.
The ground floor space for temporary exhibitions is occupied by ‘The Heart’. The titular organ is explored from both anatomical and cultural perspectives. Artefacts include dissection drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and 17th century venous and arterial tables associated with William Harvey.
Science on show
Watson praised the galleries. “I have admiration for what the Trust has done here, very tastefully giving the public what it needs,” he said.
He emphasised the need for public understanding as we enter new scientific territory. “DNA and medicine are now entwined. The next decade will be overwhelmingly interesting. It is important to have ways of displaying progress, like here at the Wellcome Collection, so the public can see what we’ve been doing,” he concluded.
The Wellcome Collection opens to the public on 21 June. Entrance is free.