What better way to spend your Saturdays than queuing for London’s hottest exhibitions right now? Theรย Wellcome Collectionรย caters for the morbid and the kinky with the over-reviewed, highly anticipated and – sigh – incredibly queued-for displays on violent death (Forensics) and sex (The Institute of Sexology).รย 
I had plans for my Saturday. I really did. Then I went to the Wellcome Collection, and ended up staying for the whole day. รย Locatedรย just by Euston Stationรย at 183 Euston Road, this marvellous building claims to be the “free visitor destination for the incurably curious”, and ain’t that the truth. In fact, all the Wellcome Collection (free) exhibitions are so good that most Londoners have decided to spend hours doing what they do best – queueing – to see them. รย Five-star reviews in the Evening Standard, The Guardian and TimeOut amongst all others have sort of made it compulsory.
Forensicsรย – The Anatomy of Crime
The tragic, the morbid and the scientific all come together for this unique exhibition, for which you should expectรย at least 40 minutes of queueing during weekends.รย If you are a serial killer connoisseur, this exhibitionรย is the place for you. Featuring the very camera Scotland Yard used to photograph the body of Mary Kelly, Jack The Ripper’s alleged last victim, as well as sketches of the notorious killer’s victims and crime scenes, Forensics explores everyรย corner of crime across history.
Forensics’ first room is entirely dedicated to the crime scene. Here, paintings show houses that were the scene of a murder, with eerie spots of blood made obviousรย by luminol spray. Small doll houses become the nutshell studiesรย used by the policeรย to study each step of a crime scene, while sealed containers display theรย maggots revealingรย how long victims have been dead for.รย 
Moving on to the morgue, Forensics – The Anatomy of Crime displays a ‘slice’ of brain blackened by a gunshot wound, a liver stabbed with a double-edged knife and an old morgue operating table. You can even sit down with a pair of headphones and listen to the sounds of an autopsy, including the moment when doctors cut a man’s chest open. However, if that’s too much you can always watchรย Carla Valentine – the now famous Mortuary Technicianรย from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital museum of Pathology – talk about reconstructing dead bodies.รย 
The exhibition finishes with the lab, the search and the courtroom, displaying identifying techniques and pictures from the most famous cases. The best are by far the pictures showing the effects of arsenic on the stomach.รย 
The Institute of Sexology
The Institute of Sexologyรย explores all methods adopted by scientists who tried to lift the taboos on discussing sex to liberate people of theirรย repressed desires.
In a display so popular it has sometimes required free timed tickets, The Institute of Sexology invites you to “undress your mind” by looking at overรย 200 objects ranging from art to erotica, from science to film, to bring together the pioneers of the study of sex.รย 
The Institute displaysรย Alfred ‘Dr Sex’ Kinsey’s reports he compiled after conductingรย over 18,000 interviews on sexual history with Americans at a time when sex was barely mentionable. The collection displays the work and history of pioneers like Sigmund Freud, William Masters and Virginia Johnson – the American scientists who observed volunteers having sex to explore its effect on the body. รย ‘The Institute of Sexology’รย investigates how the practice of sex research has shaped our ever-evolving attitudes towards sexual behaviour and identity.
‘The Institute of Sexology’รย will be at the Wellcome Collection until mid-September, while Forensics – The Anatomy of Crime only lasts until June. The Collection also hostsรย exhibitions such as Medicine Man and Medicine Now.
If you have plans for your day, you’re better off not going to London’s Wellcome Collection: you are most likely to spend an entire day in there. It even has a delicious cafรยฉ.
Photos: Wellcome Collection,รย Don’t Panic Online, The Institute of Sexology, London24, Matthew’s Gallery, City AM
Laรย Wellcome Collectionรย accontenta gli amanti del macabro e del perverso con due mostre che hanno ricevuto recensioni stellari:รย Forensics: L’Anatomia del Crimine eรย The Institute of Sexology.
Volevo fare qualcosa di produttivo Sabato scorso. Davvero. Poi invece sono andata allaรย Wellcome Collection e ho finito per starci per tutta la giornata. รย Questo fantastico edificio vicino alla stazione della metropolitana diรย Euston si autoproclama “la destinazione gratuita per gli incurabili curiosi”รย e non scherza.รย Tutte le mostre gratuite dellaรย Wellcome Collection hanno convinto una marea di Londinesi a fare quello che sanno fare meglio: la fila.รย Le recensioni a cinque stelle sull’Evening Standard, The Guardianรย eรย TimeOutรย li hanno praticamente costretti.
Forensicsรย – The Anatomy of Crime
Aspettatevi una fila di almenoรย 40 minuti durante i weekend per quest’unica, tragica, macabra, affascinante mostra. Se siete esperti di serial killer, questa mostra รยจ il posto per voi. Tra gli oggetti in esposizione c’รยฉ sonoรย l’arcaica macchina fotografica che gli agenti diรย Scotland Yardรย hanno usato per fotografare il corpo diรย Mary Kelly, l’ultima prostituta uccisa da Jack lo Squartatore. Non mancano nemmeno gli schizzi delle scene del crimine e delle vittime del famoso serial killer.
La prima stanzaรย di Forensics รยจ dedicata alla scena del crimine. Dipinti mostrano stanze dove รยจ avvenuto un omicidio, col sangue nascosto riportato alla luce dalรย luminol. Inquietanti case di bambole diventanoรย nutshell studies, piccoli plastici usati dalla polizia per analizzare ogni zona legata all’omicidio. Fialette sigillate mostrano gli insetti fondamentali per capire a quando risale l’ora dell’omicidio.
Nell’area designata all’obitorio, la mostra espone pezzi di cervello anneriti da un colpo di fucile, un fegato accoltellato con un arma a doppio taglio e un tavolo operatorio degli anni ’20.รย Potete anche sedervi con un paio di cuffie ad ascoltare i suoni provenienti da un’autopsia. Se รยจ troppo da sopportare, potete sempre guardareรย Carla Valentine – l’ormai famosaรย curatrice del Museo di Medicina Legale delรย St. Bartholomew’s Hospital – parlare di come si “ricostruiscono” i cadaveri.
La mostra termina col laboratorio, la caccia all’assassino e l’aula del tribunale, passando per i metodi d’identificazione e i casi piรยน famosi. Da non perdere la foto di uno stomaco contaminato dall’arsenico.
The Institute of Sexology
Questa mostra si occupa di tutti i metodi adottati dagli scienziati che hanno provato a liberare la societรย dai tabรยน sul sesso per liberarci dai desideri repressi.
The Institute of Sexology รยจ stata cosรยฌ popolare da aver costretto gli organizzatori a ricorrere a biglietti gratuiti per regolare le chilometriche file di spettatori. La mostra invita a “spogliare la propria mente” nel guardare oltreรย 200 oggetti tra arte, pornografia, scienza e film, mettendo insieme i pionieri dello studio del sesso.รย
Tra gli oggetti in esposizione ci sono le relazioni di Alfred ‘Dottor Sesso’ Kinsey, compilati dopo oltreรย 18000 colloqui sulla storia sessuale dei volontari in tempi in cui parlare di sesso in America era praticamente impossibile.
La mostra espone il lavoro di pionieri dello studio del sesso come Sigmund Freud, William Masters eรย Virginia Johnson – gli scienziatiรย Americani che hanno osservato una serie di volontari fare sesso per vedere gli effetti che aveva sul corpo umano.รย
‘The Institute of Sexology’ sarรย allaรย Wellcome Collection fino a metรย Settembre, mentreรย Forensics – The Anatomy of Crime durerรย solo fino a Giugno. Allaรย Wellcomeรย Collection ci sono altre due mostre,รย Medicine Manรย eรย Medicine Now.
Se avete altro da fare durante la giornata, andare allaรย Wellcome Collection non รยจ una buona idea: finirete per passarci tutta la giornata.
Foto:รย Wellcome Collection,รย Don’t Panic Online, The Institute of Sexology, London24, Matthew’s Gallery, City AM
