One of London's newest cultural venues is celebrating its first 18 months since opening with the announcement that more than 400,000 people have visited.
Wellcome Collection on Euston Road is a £30 million part gallery, part science museum. It is run by the UK's largest charity, the Wellcome Trust. The Wellcome Collection conference facilities consist of:
- The Henry Wellcome auditorium, seating for 156
- Four Seminar rooms, seating for between 12 and 120
- A Terrazzo lobby, ideal for pre-dinner drinks receptions
- Free WiFi access throughout the building
The visitor attraction was opened by Stephen Fry in June 2007. It combines three contemporary galleries together with the world-famous Wellcome Library, a public events forum, a café, a bookshop, the Wellcome Collection conference centre and a members' club. It was established to provide visitors with radical insights into the human condition and to explore the connections between art and science.
Appealing programme of exhibitions and events
War & Medicine is the third major special exhibition at Wellcome Collection. Running between 21 November 2008 and 15 February 2009, the exhibition will assess the impact and influence that warfare and medicine have had on one another.
Wellcome Collection's programme of exhibitions and events range from The Heart and Sleeping & Dreaming exhibitions to the portrait photography exhibition of Life Before Death. Debates, performances and late-night events cover topics such as organ donation, live open-heart surgery, obesity, chronic fatigue syndrome and stem cell research.
Clare Matterson, Wellcome Trust Director for Medicine, Society and History, commented: "When we embarked on this project, we did wonder 'will anyone come?' We are extremely thankful to all who have stopped in. We won't become complacent, as we must continually re-invent our programming to make it fresh, relevant and appealing."
