Wellcome Collection 'In the Air'
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Not an exhibition I would have thought to go to but I ended up being very happy that I did. It was the choice of a fellow student as it was very relevant to her work so we decided to combine it with a visit to Tate Modern later in the day.
A museum and library, rather than a gallery, and free to access, The Wellcome Collection sets out to explore and challenge ‘how we all think and feel about health’. It is part of the Wellcome global charitable foundation which supports research into science that has potential to improve health and save lives.
The exhibition ‘In the Air’ explored how air can move freely across borders and through our bodies; how it is both vital to our existence but can also, for example through pollution or weaponisation, be a threat to health.
It was an entirely absorbing experience. The so clever mix of art, science and film truly hammered home the big messages while also producing some exhibits that were entrancingly beautiful. For example, humans may well have divided up ownership of ‘air space’ above the ground but the movement of air takes no notice of this. And in certain cases, this is where the weaponisation comes in.
This glass vessel contains air collected from the 27 countries that participated in the Paris convention of 1919 that extended land borders upwards to create nationalised air spaces.
A mesmerising work was used to bring focus to the way poor communities so often are the recipients of poor and polluted air with a panoramic film of airborne particles that, in fact, are not seen by the humans who may be breathing them in.
A still from the panoramic film of airborne particles
So, as ever, I found a bit of encouragement from someone else to see something a bit different, turned into an illuminating and aesthetically pleasing experience. And it was rounded off very nicely with the addition of some celebrity spotting as we sat but a few metres from the actor Toby Jones in the café!