Output details

Hair

After the success of ‘Flesh’ (2007) the Wellcome Trust commissioned Conreen et al. to produce a series of exhibits, installations and live events in their gallery to provide insights into the materiality of ‘Hair’ and its connection with the Trust’s concerns with human health and medicine.

Initially, the research investigated: ‘How effective was public engagement with the collection?’ The Wellcome had run a number of exhibitions with speakers and exhibits but had not presented many with hands-on experiences with experts. The audience (approx. 300) were offered opportunities to touch, examine, smell, cut, shave and even taste hair. The aims of the exhibition were threefold: to complement the Wellcome collection; to enhance visitor experience; and, to deepen understandings of health and medicine through material and professional engagements with ‘Hair’.

The event was curated around these titles: hands-on exhibits run by hair professionals (Medicine Now gallery); waxing; hair transplants; shaving; knitting; felting; wig making and fitting; hair dressing; chemistry of hair products; and, artists and designers who have used hair as a material. Hands-on exhibits (Medicine Man gallery) celebrated cutthroat shaving of a balloon; fetish making; examine your own hair using portable scanning electron microscope; and, laser hair removal.

Hair experts, such as transplant surgeons, beauticians, hairdressers, wig-makers, clothes-makers, knitters, biologists, psychologists and materials scientists engaged visitors in the arts and science practices of their profession. The Materials Library researched and designed tactile hairy exhibits.

The success of this comprehensive event set the standard and model for all Wellcome Collections events in the ensuing five years. Workshops, lectures, material encounters, and consultancy have also been commissioned by, amongst others: Tate Modern; Science Museum; Victoria and Albert Museum; 
Samsung Europe;
Chris Lefteri Design; Thomas Heatherwick Studio; Zaha Hadid Studio;
 Royal College of Art; and, Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design.