The who, what, why of The Wellcome Collection's second installment of First Time Out...
Who? This month, The Wellcome Collection has joined forces with nine other museums and galleries – among them The Science Museum, The Royal Botanic Gardens and The Royal Shakespeare Company – for the second installment of First Time Out, a travelling display of extraordinary archive objects.
What? Each participating institute has selected a unique, never-before-seen treasure from their collection, which will first be showcased in its original setting before moving to a partner location to be viewed by a new audience, and surrounded by a completely different set of references. The objects are wonderfully varied and include a sinister bone guillotine carved by prisoners during the Napoleonic wars; the rarest of Darwin's publications; the world's very first light bulb and the Fool's bauble prop from a landmark performance of King Lear with Sir Ian McKellen in the title role.
"The initiative is a novel way of shedding light on some of the nation's fascinating exhibits kept hidden away as a result of limited display space"
Why? The initiative is a novel way of shedding light on some of the nation's fascinating exhibits kept hidden away as a result of limited display space, while offering new perspectives on them by shifting the context in which they are seen. Ken Arnold, head of public programmes at Wellcome Collection, expands, “First Time Out is a disarmingly simple idea which opens up complicated questions about the millions of intriguing artefacts looked after by museums and galleries behind closed doors. At its heart are ten fascinating objects whose value is held in the different stories we tell about them. The project is generous in spirit, governed by a shared curiosity about what others’ views and interpretations may lend to our own holdings.”
First Time Out runs from June 6 to 31 July at various venues.
Text by Daisy Woodward
