2020 exhibition programme

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wellcome Collection’s 2020 Programme was postponed. The On Happiness season will launch at Wellcome Collection in July 2021.

Wellcome Collection explores happy feelings during spring/summer 2020, bringing together exhibitions, performance, publications, events and digital content. Through artists’ commissions, historical objects, performances, talks and workshops, the On Happiness season will explore the complex, and often subjective, nature of happiness and its impact on mental and physical health.

During autumn/winter 2020-21 two exhibitions will explore the subjectivity of sight and promote a more complex awareness of vision. From stereoscopy to virtual reality, the prejudice faced by people with visual impairments to the “invention” of good eye-sight, these exhibitions will ask what it really means to see and be seen.

Exhibitions:

Joy – part of the On Happiness season
May 28-October 11

Joy includes newly commissioned artworks alongside historic objects that explore euphoria and social experiences of collective joy. The exhibition reflects different perspectives from science, religion and philosophy on elusive questions such as; Where do positive emotions come from? Can feelings be measured? Who gets to define happiness? Artists such as Jasleen Kaur, Barry Lewis, Harold Offeh, Stefanie Posavec, Amalia Pica, David Shrigley present and interrogate different personal approaches to finding joy.

Tranquillity – part of the On Happiness season
May 28-August 31

Tranquillity considers calmer and more solitary feelings of serenity and awe. This contemplative and immersive installation includes photography by Chrystel Lebas that captures forests at twilight, and some of the oldest living trees in the world. Sounds and scents designed to calm the nervous system invite visitors to stop and experience a moment of quiet reverie.

Objects in Stereo – Photographs by Jim Naughten
October 1–May 9, 2021

In this new commission, photographer Jim Naughten uses stereoscopy to bring a selection of objects from Wellcome’s historical collections to life. Employing the technique pioneered by the Victorians, Naughten invites us to focus close attention on objects unlikely to be put on display, while questioning what it means to keep and care for this kind of collection.

Plain Sight
November 19–April 11, 2021

Plain Sight explores the subjectivity of sight and the tools that shape how we view the world and are seen by others. Corrective and protective eyewear, vision systems and other lenses enable us to construct realities, perform identities and observe others. The exhibition will present a range of perspectives—including non-visual learners—to critically reflect on the primacy of the visual sense, and question whether we are blinded by sight.