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Cholera Day Takeover

, –
  • Free
  • Festival
  • British Sign Language interpreted
  • Relaxed
Visitors engaging in a creative workshop assisted by a Visitor Experience Facilitator.
Event in the Wellcome Studio, Photo: Steven Pocock. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

What you’ll do

Join us for a day of activities exploring the history of cholera and its links to freshwater. You’ll have the chance to take part in a craft workshop, smell the stinky streets of Victorian London, and look at historical maps and illustrations from our collection as we investigate cholera’s relationship to the history of toilets and public health. The events are led by facilitators.

Scroll down for full details, times and locations. All events are drop-in and relaxed, so you can just show up and come and go as you please.

A BSL interpreter will be available throughout the day – you can ask a member of staff if you need BSL support.

Dates

, –

Events

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  • Session
Cholera Maps
Ground floor Atrium
Join an informal session where you can look at some historical maps that were created to investigate the causes of cholera. You can also explore some satirical cartoons from the collection, which reveal the ways the disease shaped political commentary and beliefs about health.
Just turn up
  • British Sign Language
  • Limited audio description
  • Relaxed

–

  • Session
A Nightmare on Broad Street
Viewing Room
‘A Nightmare on Broad Steet’ brings cartoons, maps and posters out of the collection and onto display. Learn how British society reacted to the cholera outbreaks of the 19th century; how the medical profession sought to understand the nature of the disease; and how the physician John Snow and others eventually uncovered the truth behind its transmission. Free guide booklets with large print will be available to explore the collection at your own pace. Facilitators will be on hand to talk through the items on display.
Just turn up
  • Limited audio description
  • Relaxed

–

  • Session
Toilet Talk
The Studio
Join us for a session exploring the history of toilets. What did people do before the flushing toilet? Who invented toilet paper? Why are hygienic toilets still a major issue for public health and wellbeing around the world? This is a relaxed drop-in session where you can examine these questions and more, see some toilet-themed art and even make your own poo with air-drying clay!
Just turn up
  • British Sign Language interpreted
  • Relaxed

–

  • Workshop
Cholera Cross Stitch
Reading Room
Discover the comma-shaped microbe that causes cholera by making your own cross-stitch bacterium in this relaxed session.
Just turn up
  • Relaxed

–

  • Session
The Great Stink
Reading Room
Join an interactive, smell-led session to explore the Great Stink of 1858 – an event in Central London in which hot weather exacerbated the smell of human and industrial waste that was on the banks of the River Thames. We’ll be discussing the connection between the Great Stink and cholera, and how this led to the rapid development of the London sewer system. Alongside this, you will be invited to smell a selection of scents evoking the story of London’s sewers!
Just turn up
  • British Sign Language interpreted
  • Limited audio description
  • Relaxed

Need to know

Location

This is an event with several different activities. Check specific sub-events for their locations.

Multi-part programme

This is a large-scale event with several different activities, which may include drop-in sessions, scheduled performances, workshops or talks. Check specific activities for details and to see if you need to book a ticket or just show up. Spaces for drop-in activities are limited and may run out if we are busy.

Drop in

Just turn up to this event. It's likely to have room for everyone.

British Sign Language interpreted

This event will have British Sign Language interpretation.

Relaxed

This is a relaxed event, which means that if you need to, you are welcome to move around and make noise at any time.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call

Our event terms and conditions

About your contributors

A headshot of Grace Higgins Brown smiling into the camera

Grace Higgins-Brown

(She/Her)

Grace is an artist and writer who uses scent and material culture as a tool for exploring and engaging with artworks, histories and memories. She works at Wellcome Collection as a Visitor Experience & Engagement Facilitator.

Aleks Jagielski

(He/Him)

Aleks is a Visitor Experience & Engagement Facilitator at Wellcome Collection and a writer with background in community engagement. Outside of Wellcome, he works with the Museum of Transology.

A headshot of Holly Houlton smiling into the camera.

Holly Houlton

(she/her)

Holly is a Visitor Experience and Engagement Facilitator at Wellcome Collection with a background in the visual arts, photography and writing. She uses a variety of facilitation techniques to encourage visitors to connect with artworks and items from the collection; with the aim of creating meaningful and memorable experiences.

Jake Blackavar

(he/they)

Jake Blackavar is a Visitor Experience & Engagement Facilitator at Wellcome Collection. They encourage a question-led approach to gallery tours and run a variety of creative workshops. They help lead ‘Conversations about Death’ - an ongoing series of events at Wellcome to enable open discussion of tender subjects.

Solange LaRose

(she/her)

Solange is a Visitor Experience & Engagement Facilitator, creating exciting, engaging and thought-provoking experiences for visitors to the Wellcome Collection. Solange has a professional background in the higher education sector and has supported students at all stages of their learning. Solange has a particular interest in archaeology and ancient material culture.

Elfed Selman

Elfed Selman

(he/him)

Elfed is a Library Experience and Engagement Facilitator at Wellcome Collection, with a background in outreach evaluation in the heritage sector. Elfed is fascinated by the sensory experiences places of heritage have to offer and how each sense can inspire a re-interpretation of collections. He is especially interested in oral history and the insight it gives into people's personalities and experiences.  

Black and white photo of the head and shoulders of a young woman. Her head is tilted to one side, she is smiling and looking at the camera.

Rebekah Lindo

(she/her)

Rebekah is a Visitor Experience & Engagement Facilitator at Wellcome Collection. She's interested in exploring the connection between creativity and the self, and has a background in biomedical sciences, and science communication.

Black and white photograph of the head and shoulders of a young woman with short dark hair and round glasses. The woman is looking up and to the right.

Polly Bodetto

(she/they)

Polly is a Library Experience and Engagement Facilitator at Wellcome with a background in Art History. They have a keen interest in folklore, mythology, and comparative religions. When they are not at Wellcome, they can be found picking up trinkets off the forest floor.

Sarah Dabbs

Sarah Dabbs

(she/her)

Sarah is a Visitor Experience & Engagement Facilitator at Wellcome Collection, a medical doctor and a writer. She loves all things medical history, especially around medieval concepts of medicine, Georgian and Dickensian London, and maritime folklore.

A headshot of Océane, who is staring into the camera and smiling.

Océane Lacanau

Océane is a Library Experience and Engagement Facilitator at Wellcome. She revels in everything creative and whimsical. She has a specific fondness for books and video games and how they allow you to become an active learner when it comes to the many conditions of the human psyche. 

Photograph of Isabelle Gapomo

Isabelle Gapomo

Isabelle Gapomo is a Facilitator at Wellcome Collection, fostering critical engagement with narratives of Human Health, History, and Diversity. She connects archival insights to contemporary wellbeing issues, using her curatorial practice to reveal stories of health equity and social belonging.