Exhibitions

Being Human

Now on
  • Free
  • Permanent exhibition
Photograph of a museum gallery space with display cases and exhibits. In the foreground is a woman wearing a face covering and a pair of yellow over the ear headphones. She is in the process of plugging the headphones into the socket of an audio exhibit. To the right of her is another woman also wearing a face covering who is looking up at a transparent model of human being. In the far distance is a man, also wearing a face covering who is exploring the exhibiton.

At every turn the visitor will find something to fascinate.

The Times

Being Human explores what it means to be human in the 21st century. It reflects our hopes and fears about new forms of medical knowledge, and our changing relationships with ourselves, each other and the world.

Featuring 50 artworks and objects, the gallery is divided into four sections: Genetics, Minds & Bodies, Infection, and Environmental Breakdown. Discover a refugee astronaut carrying their belongings to an unknown destination, sniff a perfumed bronze sculpture that smells of breast milk, listen to an epidemic jukebox, and watch a fast-food outlet slowly flood.

Photograph of an exhibition gallery space, with a blue stained wood wall in the background, on which are hung 9 photographs showing flooded landscapes. In the foreground is a life-size artwork of a figure resembling an astronaut. carrying a large net containing assorted objects including a suitcase.
Refugee Astronaut by Yinka Shonibare CBE. Source: Wellcome Collection.
1 of 12

Yinka Shonibare’s ‘Refugee Astronaut’ encourages us to ask questions: who are they?  Why have they had to leave earth in such a hurry?  If you look closely at the possessions on their back you can find books, photographs and intriguing objects: a telescope, a camera, even a frying pan.

Photograph of an exhibit in a gallery space of an artwork which resembles a juke box.
Interactive jukebox by Kin and Bethan Laura Wood. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
2 of 12

This interactive jukebox is loaded with songs from around the world relating to illness and epidemics. You can listen to hits like ‘Let’s Talk about PrEP’ (PrEP is pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV) and ‘Ebola in Town’. Each track lights up and designers Kin worked with Bethan Laura Wood to include a rotating glass sculpture.

Photograph of a artwork banner hung in a gallery setting on a stained wood wall. On the banner is written the words 'water is life'. Below the words is an illustrated human figure in black and white, set in the context of land, sky and weather.
Water is life by Isaac Murdoch. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
3 of 12

Artist Isaac Murdoch designed and carried this banner at the Standing Rock Protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Murdoch is a member of Onaman Collective, a group of indigenous artists and environmentalists and has shared the banner designs for other people to use in similar protests.

Photograph of an exhibition display case containing ceramic artworks which resemble pots or vases, coloured in light pinks and yellows. The surface of the objects are sometimes cracked, sometimes textured.
Medical Heirlooms by Tamsin Van Essen. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
4 of 12

Just as you might inherit a precious family vase, you might also inherit the family tendency to acne or osteoporosis. Artist Tamsin Van Essen created these ‘Medical Heirlooms’ as a tribute to our medical heritage. Each is unique and each is beautiful.

A photograph showing a visitor looking at an exhibition exhibit of a mannequin wearing a white hazmat suit, visor and green apron standing on a low wooden platform. On the green apron there is a portrait of the carer that would have been wearing the suit whilst treating Ebola patients. To the right is the back of another visitor who is looking at a different exhibit.
PPE portrait project by Mary Beth Heffernan. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
5 of 12

In an Ebola epidemic, a hazmat suit offers crucial protection but looks terrifying to patients. For ‘PPE Portrait Project’, artist Mary Beth Heffernan used photographed stickers to give a face back to healthcare workers at two treatment centres. Next to this recreation you can read stories about how this changed patient care. 

Photograph of a gallery wall showing a framed photograph of a woman in bright red dress in a medical clinic.
Eleven by Kia La Beija. Source: Wellcome Collection.
6 of 12

Artist Kia LaBeija was born HIV-positive and was told she wouldn’t live long enough to go to prom. Here, in photograph ‘Eleven’, her red prom dress expresses her defiant survival.

Photograph of an exhibition gallery space and a display surface on which is an artwork made of metal, in an organic shape. In front of the artwork is a raised captions panel in text and braille and a large sign with the words 'Please do not touch'.
5318008, a breast milk scented bronze sculpture by Tasha Marks. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
7 of 12

This sculpture holds a secret – lean in and sniff and you will smell breast milk. Designed by Tasha Marks of AVM Curiosities, ‘5318008’ is a playful tribute to our intimate relationship with bacteria. The title is a joke – turn the numbers upside down to read ‘BOOBIES’.

Photograph of an artwork on a display plinth in a gallery space. The artwork consists of 2 gas canisters and a pressure cooker, each one has a map of the earth's landmasses carved out of its casing.
World under pressure by Batoul S'Himi. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
8 of 12

Carving a map into these pressurised containers reduces the danger of an explosion but reminds us of global threats such as environmental breakdown. Titled ‘The World Under Pressure’, Batoul S’Himi’s domestic objects encourage us to think about our impact on the world.

Photograph of an exhibition display case, which contains a red collection box bearing a sticker which says, 'Help the normals'. Next to the collection box on one side is part of a comic strip and on the other side are 2 pill boxes with the words 'Dignity' and other smaller text printed on the packaging.
Help the normals by Dolly Sen. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
9 of 12

Look closely at this pillbox and collecting tin and you might be surprised. The tin’s supposed charity is ‘Help the Normals’. In tiny letters, it explains ‘Give generously – they won’t’. The ‘Dignity’ pillboxes also feature thought-provoking instructions. Dolly Sen created these objects as a protest that encourages us to shift our perspectives on disability.

Photograph of a galley wall made of green stained wood, at an angle. On the wall are 3 artworks receding into the distance. The artwork closest to the camera shows a full length photograph of a naked woman which has been illustrated over the surface with colourful drawings.
No Human Being Is Illegal (In All our Glory) by Deborah Kelly and collaborators. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
10 of 12

Latai Taumoepeau is a performance artist and climate-change protestor. Pieces of plastic pollution are hidden among the fish across her belly. This is the first in a series of collaged portraits that are part of ‘No Human Being Is Illegal (In All Our Glory)’ by Deborah Kelly and a group of collaborators that will be shown in the gallery. 

Photograph of the contents of an exhibition display case. The objects on display include a scientific pipet, petri dishes, latex gloves, specimen tubes and a jar.
DNA editing kit. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
11 of 12

Don’t try this at home! This kit claims to include everything you would need to edit DNA. 

Photograph of a gallery installation showing a bench with yellow cushions facing a large video projection. The projection shows the inside of a McDonalds restaurant looking down from a high viewpoint in which the restaurant floor is beginning to flood with water.
Flooded McDonalds by Superflex. Source: Wellcome Collection.
12 of 12

Watch as water slowly fills the screen in this vast video projection of ‘Flooded McDonald’s’. Artists Superflex built a scale model of McDonald’s to destroy for the film, even down to an ‘employee of the month’ award on the wall.  Like environmental breakdown itself, it starts slowly but builds until soon, everything is under water.

Visit us

Free admission

Galleries open Tuesday–Sunday, Opening times

Being Human gallery, level 1

Step-free access is available to all floors of the building

Large-print guides, transcripts and magnifiers are available in the gallery

All our accessibility services

  • Season

What does it mean to be human, now?

How we can care for ourselves and for each other during extraordinary cultural, social and political shifts? Our programme brings multiple perspectives and voices both into the building and across our digital platforms, based on our collecting and commissioning activities during 2020.