A free museum and library exploring health and human experience

Photograph of a stairway and entrance to a museum gallery space. On the open entrance doors are written 'Being Human'. Walking up the stairs is a woman wearing a face covering. Through the entrance doors the exhibits in the gallery can be seen, including a large transparent human figure, stood on a tabletop. Looking at this exhibit is man wearing a blue shirt and a face covering. In the far distance are the windows through which daylight is streaming.

Welcome back

We can’t wait to welcome you back to Wellcome Collection. Find out everything you need to plan a safe visit and book a free ticket.

In focus

Photograph an art installation. The words 'Being Human' shine in bright orange lettering on a wall at the entrance of an exhibition. In the background behind the wall there are elements of an exhibition, including a see skeletal person and various other cabinets.

Wellcome Collection’s statement on anti-Blackness and racism

Our ambition is to be a place where all members of our communities can see themselves and their lives meaningfully reflected in the work that we present.

Illustration in the style of Manga graphic novels, showing a young person looking at an open book titled, Uzumaki. Behind them is a spiralling green ribbon, within which are body horror illustrations of faces with bleeding eyes, giant tongues, tentacles, insects, stitched up faces and expressions of horror.

Read our stories

Dive into words and pictures exploring the connections between science, medicine, life and art.

Photograph of a gallery installation with three seated people watching a video on a tv screen. On the wall to the left are large bold graphics and text, coloured blue, red and green. To the right are leaflets standing on 5 shelves, inset into a wall. In the distance are the windows and a section of a spiral staircase.

Inclusive futures digital installation

Explore our online installation, designed by Heart n Soul at The Hub to investigate how to make the world a better place for everyone.

Latest stories

Artwork using collage. The collaged elements are made up of archive material which includes vintage and contemporary photographs, etchings, painted illustrations, lithographic prints and line drawings. This artwork depicts a scene with an urban and rural combined background, where high mountains and hills rise in the distance. In the middle distance are a series of tall trees and a jail like structure with bars. On top of the jail stands a large leopard looking up to the sky. In front of the jail are several large agave plants. Seated amongst them are three young children, smiling. To the right of the children is a large gold covered bed with a large gold nugget on top. At the foot of the bed are 2 more golden nuggets. Siting on the headboard is a colourful parrot in red, blue and orange. To the right of the parrot is a modern glass building with a long pathway leading up to the entrance. In the foreground on the left side of the image is a woman wearing a pattered dress and knitted to crocheted hat. Beside her is a large handbag. In her hand she is holding a biro and a piece of paper. She is looking away into the distant hills with a tear rolling down her right cheek. In the cloud scattered sky above are 3 parrots in flight and a large moon like orb. A blue bird sits in a high tree on the right, a pink heart shape in its mouth.
  • Serial
Part4

When you can’t return home

Migrants and refugees cannot choose to return home, so homesickness becomes a profound and long-lasting feeling. This powerful force infuses migrant cultures, and is rarely given the serious attention it warrants.

Part of The heart of homesickness

Two St. Bernard dogs with an avalanche victim, one tries to revive him while the other alerts the rescue party.
  • In pictures

Dogs to the rescue

Explore artworks and archive photographs showing how our four-legged friends have been helping humans for hundreds of years.

Artwork using collage. The collaged elements are made up of archive material which includes vintage photographs, etchings, painted illustrations, lithographic prints and line drawings. This artwork depicts a scene with an urban and rural combined background, where high chimneys billowing smoke and skyscrapers rise in the distance. In the middle distance an are tall palm trees and an expanse of water with a small boat. In the foreground on the left is a lion on his hind legs, mouth open in a roar. Behind and to the right of the lion is a large blue hardback book. On the cover is the figure of a naked man with his arms outstretched above his head. Branches grow out of his arms, torso and legs and roots grow out of his feet. Next to the book is an empty artist's easel with a stretched canvas leaning against it. In the centre of the image a man in a shirt and tie sits cross legged with a notebook on his lap, looking to one side. A tear falls down his right cheek. He is leaning against a large bottle with the word 'alcohol' written on its label. To the far right are a couple of suitcases, one is open with a red heart inside, the other has a building floor plan drawn on its lid. In the blue sky on the right is a helicopter and on the left, a moon like orb.
  • Serial
Part3

How homesickness inspires art

Gail Tolley looks at homesickness through the eyes of three contemporary artists and finds powerful new themes of identity and connection.

Part of The heart of homesickness

Photograph of a drawing of St James's Church, with three people standing outside its gate. In the road in front of the church another person is directing a small herd of cattle. In the background are other buildings and a person on horseback. The church is flanked by tall trees on either side. Accompanying text reads 'Turnpike in the Hampstead Road, and St James's Church, in 1820.'. The drawing has been photographed against a concrete textured background.
  • In pictures

Euston’s lost burial ground

Closing St James’s Gardens for a new rail line required the largest exhumation in British history. Tom Bolton explores the stories of some of the people who were buried there.

All stories