Dirt at Wellcome Collection

The exhibition on Dirt at Wellcome Collection takes a closer look at the grubby and the filthy in our current modern-day world and those of years gone by. Examining our changing attitude towards cleanliness and dirt over the centuries, and taking in art, science, society and our psychological attitudes towards it, the exhibition aims to fully explore our ongoing love/hate affair with grime.

Dirt at Wellcome Collection
Including 200 different objects that range from bejewelled brooms to the earliest sketches of bacteria, the Dirt exhibition illustrates our rich history of dirt obsession and the exposes all the dirty secrets in photography, film, literature, cultural objects and scientific artefacts. If you've ever been inclined to sweep the dirt under the carpet, then this is the show for you.

A history of filth
As a starting point for all the different angles covered in the exhibition on Dirt at Wellcome Collection, the museum has set up six different rooms, each with a different theme. Here you can visit a home in 17th century Holland, a Victorian city street, a Glaswegian hospital from the 1860s, a museum in 20th century Dresden, present day New Delhi and the landfill site of the future in 2030's New York. Here you can see artwork and scientific equipment that reflect the attitudes and the discoveries of the day.

Where there's muck
Not only does the exhibition focus on the ways in which we want to rid ourselves of dirt, but it also examines how we can benefit from it. In both the New Dehli and the New York sections, Dirt at Wellcome Collection looks at the nature of scavenging and the process of waste disposal, both of which bear their own stigmas but for very different reasons.

Now wash your hands
As a closing note to the exhibition, the Wellcome Collection asks if our obsession with cleanliness is potentially more damaging to our long term health than the germs and dirt we seek to banish. Despite living in some of the most technologically advanced eras, over half the world's population currently live in urban environments, where inadequate saniation and overcrowding inevitably lead to regular contact with the filth and grime produced by humans. Revealing some of the most fascinating facts about the world of dirt, Dirt at Wellcome Collection sheds light on one of the last taboos of contemporary society.

The exhibition Dirt at Wellcome Collection takes place from 10am - 6pm, Tuesday - Saturday and 11am - 6pm Sundays, from Thursday 24th March - Wednesday 31st August 2011. Entrance is free.

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