Wellcome Collection close Medicine Man exhibition because it is "racist and ableist".

[Ginmonkeyagain]

The Wellcome Collection have decided to close their long standing exhibition Medicine Man as they feel it is "racist and ableist".

What does this say about modern museum curation? Are these types of collections always problematic? Could they have taken alternative action to reframe it?

I think Christopher Snowden summed it up when he said 'If you find it upsetting that people in the past did not share your progressive values then maybe running a museum isn't for you.' Museums by definition being places that contain artefacts and ideas from the past that people might find troubling. Frankly they've missed a huge chance here to show exactly why the attitudes of Wellcome were problematic and how we've moved on from them.

Yeah, I'm a full on wokerista but this seems to play into RW ideas of the left being gibbering apologists who assume offence on others' behalf. I've seen disability rights people going 'Uh, actually this was a rare collect of disability artefacts' on Twitter, so it's like they've not actually asked anyone who might matter most to.

From their website it looks as though they intend to reinstate most if not all of the display with more inclusive labelling, which seems a good thing to do. I've never been to the museum so don't know how large a part of the overall display that particular exhibition was - or whether they're putting something else on display in the interim.

Were there specific problems around collection/consent issues ? - that can be tricky, for instance if there is stuff that was intended to have limited access in its original setting (an all-male ritual object for instance) or human remains.

I was disappointed they only gave two days notice in Twitter. A conversation could have been had with the groups impacted.

We know the history of medicine exploits and ignores women, minority groups etc.. that is a story to tell using the objects.

I have always enjouyed those types of electic collections, full of interesting things. Yes we need to understand the context and the problematic nature of many of these types of collections, built up by mainly rich, white men. But do they have so little faith in themselves as museum professionals and us as their audience that they think it cannot be recontextualised and interpreted through different lens?

The Pitt-Rivers in Oxford have overlaid a whole exhibition about how misconceived their categorisation and labelling is on top of the existing display. It’s fairly confusing, and not what I’d want to see everywhere. There is something to learn there, though.

They haven't said that they're never going to display this part of the collection again -- indeed, the closure announcement specifically said they are closing it "as we prepare to transform how our collections are presented."

It sounds as though they'll be doing away with the "Medicine Man" name but are yet to decide whether the artifacts will form part of the cycle of temporary exhibitions or if there will be a new (renamed and recentered) permanent exhibition.

I can see two problems with the 'medicine man' tag before I even start
to think about it, so re-labelling combined with the usual condition
report and conservation check that has to be done regularly on any exhibit may be timely. That said, I do wonder why (apparently) they made such a sudden decision about this - it hardly seems to be a display they'd be threatened with immediate legal action over.

All of us have a different understanding of health, disease, treatment, containment - all those issues - than we had three years ago, and elements of that global change will inform any new set of labels.

@DeanVolecapeAKAelderberry A lot of my disquiet is about who it was done and communicated. It all seemed a bit sudden and hectoring.

You can take a community with you in these discussions and do them well.

When I lived in London, the Wellcome Collection was one of my favourite places to drop in. Interesting medical/science exhibits, decent cafe, great stuff in the shop.

The collection was always going to be "problematic" having been amassed by a rich white man from a major colonial power. But that in itself could have been a "teaching moment" to contextualise the background and give some credit to their visitors's understanding of the issues. (It's been a good few years since I visited, so I don't know whether they attempted to do so).

I do hope they're not going to just hide all the exhibits away, and that it will indeed reopen with more explanation/interpretation. I don't think it's ever helpful to just erase things which are considered controversial.

I've tried to read up on this but I don't understand what the actual problem is. Surely if it's pictures of black people kneeling before white missionaries that's an ideal picture to show how colonialism affected the local population in a demeaning and oppressive way. How does closing everything down help us to learn anything?
Museums are there to educate and inform, not shy away from and hide from the truth.

So much of modern medicine and the discoveries we know today was built on racism or the perceptions of white doctors (the vaccine trials on black US army members, the belief black people did not feel pain, etc.). It's a shameful part of history, but we can't just pretend it never happened. That's dishonest and whitewashes medical development.

There's also the 'foreign disease' trope - see 'the China virus' Mpox etc. I can understand the need for a revamp. I can't understand the haste and the lack of communication.

They announced it (at the latest, they may have said something before) when they announced the autumn 2022-spring 2023 programme back on 18 October.

That announcement said:

Wellcome Collection will close its long-running permanent display ‘Medicine Man’ on 27 November 2022. This closure marks a significant turning point for Wellcome Collection as it prepares for a major project to transform how the collection is presented over the coming years, informed by the museum’s programme and research. The process will amplify the voices of those who have been previously erased or marginalised from museums and bring their stories of health and humanity to Wellcome Collection’s heart. More information will be announced in early 2023.

To mark the closure, a series of Thursday-evening events will explore the collection critically and examine the legacy of some of the objects on display. Events include an object-handling session and a zines workshop.

And the Director was quoted as saying:

Over the coming months and across our programme, Wellcome Collection will be asking important questions about the role of museums and collections across time in relation to power, knowledge and representation.

Medicine Man has occupied a central position within Wellcome Collection since it opened in 2007 and is very much a product of its time. The world has changed in innumerable ways, so now is the right time to close this long-running display. We are deeply committed to amplifying the voices of those whose histories and lives are embodied in the collection and to telling more inclusive and equitable stories about human life and health. To fully achieve our aims, we must create spaces where multiple perspectives about human life and health are favoured over the single perspective of a single privileged and powerful man, Henry Wellcome. I’m excited about the possibilities offered by sharing and involving our audiences in this urgent and transformative work as the project develops.

Yeah, I'm a full on wokerista but this seems to play into RW ideas of the left being gibbering apologists who assume offence on others' behalf.

Maybe, just maybe, the right could have been right about what the left are doing??

It’s a few years since I visited the Wellcome and my memory of Medicine Man is hazy but I thought there was an attempt at contextualisation (though I may be misremembering and conflating discussion about our visit (I was there as part of my MA studies) with the actual contents). Pretty sure there were artefacts that should be returned though. Like many museum collections it says a lot about the collector rather than it all being about the artefacts but we can learn a lot from both aspects given the right curation and commentary.

Surely if it's pictures of black people kneeling before white missionaries that's an ideal picture to show how colonialism affected the local population in a demeaning and oppressive way

No thank you. We dont need to see any more thieving White men's stolen artefacts/Museums displaying images and symbols of oppression.

None of it is a teaching moment. Racism is still flourishing in 2022 - people from countries plundered by Britain leading to ongoing generational poverty, are told to go back to their own country. The country that Britain ruined.

& furthermore theres an arrogant tendency to totally dismiss what indigenous nations have to say, thats if theyre asked at all.

I hope exhibition never comes back. But the type of know it all White liberal that MLK was so vocal about and wary of, will probably ensure it will. Not least so they can still keep their fancy titled well paid gatekeeping jobs, and of course that all-important diversity funding cash.

Don't sit on the fence!

Also your points in your second paragraph contradict each other somewhat. If racism is still alive in 2022 (which I agree it is) perhaps these symbols of oppression and colonialism need to be displayed and explained to more people so they understand the past of their country - good and bad?

How will it help British people to come to terms with our past if it is not explained?

Or is your point that British/Western museums are unable to do this and that these objects are so irredeemably tainted by their method of aquisition they should no longer be viewed in any context?

I agree. Hectoring and lecturing in a quite condescending way.

I assume they just wanted to do something radically different rather than tweak it?

Wellcome are autonomous, so can make whatever decisions they like - they're not holding these items on behalf of the state.

I agree with the sentiment that we don't need to keep seeing the same sorts of things/exhibitions over and over, it might be good to have a fresh start.

The overarching question they asked, about what museums are for, is interesting I think. Also, who are they for? I visit a lot of museums.

You can take a community with you What 'community' do they need to take with them? If it was a council museum I would see the need, but they are not a public body.

This post makes no sense at all. What you are saying they should do is exactly what they are doing. They’re closing the current exhibition about Henry Wellcome and developing new interpretation and context around the collection. It is absolutely the right time to do this.

Trustees, users of the museum, representatives from communities they feel the exhibition is offensive to?

Museums often will have a mission or foundation statement. We/they are absolutely right to question that and continue to interrogate it.

I doubt the decision was taken that quickly. I agree they should have involved impacted groups; I do not know whether they have or not.

I think a lot if museums and collections have used the time that covid lockdowns have given them to review collections and displays, and many have done relabellings, rehangings and updated displays. I suspect that many were already thinking, we need to update this, but they now had time to think about it more and plan how to do it.