hanging out at the British Museum

wonder | wander | women are endlessly fascinated by the British Museum. We're very aware of the dark history of the museum and how many of the objects simply state that they are "acquired" without telling the full story: captured from conquered nations, stolen from tribes, bought for a song from invading officers, or even pocketed in passing during expeditions. 

main entrance

home school

At the beginning of lockdown it seemed like everyone was focused on learning something. Banana and sourdough bread, painting classes, new languages... people stuck at home wanted something new to occupy their minds.

Japanese vocabulary with Duolingo

Wellcome Library archives: buried treasures of bibliophilia

We were recently invited to a tour of the closed archives of the library at the Wellcome Collection. We've explored the library before and are perpetual visitors to the Reading Room, but who could pass up a chance to visit the stores of rare books and medical artefacts that made the historic Wellcome Institute so famous?

Wellcome Library and Reading Room

The Wellcome Library houses one of the most extensive collections of medical research in the UK, bringing in researchers from all over the planet.

wild ones at the wellcome collection

There are periodic rituals in Europe where men (and very lately, women) put on costumes of animal skin and straps covered in ringing, clanking bells, and cross into a space between rational and primal, civilisation and instinct.

Wellcome Collection Friday Late Spectacular: Wild Ones

partying at the Freemasons Hall, London

wonder | wander | women are professed lifelong bookworms and nerds and landing a job at Blackwell, London's venerable and beloved iconic bookstore, was like manna from heaven. 

Mahala at work

Then Blackwell opened its branch attached to the Wellcome Collection, which we eagerly dove into. We truly were in seventh heaven, exploring common and obscure links between the art and science of medicine and clinical practice through the ages.

Wellcome Collection museum and library building facade.

Thus does an avaricious trivia collector and book lover transform into a story seller and events programmer. We have developed an outstanding range and varied expertise from this incredible well of knowledge we are exposed to and immersed in.

The art of non-attachment: sand mandala

The practice of non-attachment is the work of a lifetime, and takes some very elaborate forms. The book and film Seven Years In Tibet introduced the lay public to the concept of the sand mandala, made by hours of dribbling loose grains of sand into beautifully detailed patterns - only to wipe the masterpiece away in seconds once it was completed.

birds of London, part 2: working girls

Here in the UK, even as new buildings are springing up and globalisation takes root, city councils are finding that old ways can provide new solutions. As London sheds its industrial past and gets shinier and cleaner, flocks of pigeons can create a messy problem. The solution: hawks.

birthday reflections

It was my birthday yesterday and I celebrated by taking myself on a date: walking, shopping, eating. Spending time alone after a hectic few months.

Limehouse Cut Canal

Reflecting back on the past year made me think of New Year traditions in different cultures: looking at our previous actions with wiser and kinder thoughts, learning our lessons and moving past our obstacles. Especially when we stand in our own way.

behind the scenes and after hours

...at the museum?

The London HQ of wonder | wander | women works at a quirky little wonderland of a museum called the Wellcome Collection. This museum of science and medicine is funded by the Wellcome Trust, founded by pharmaceutical entrepreneur Sir Henry Wellcome in 1938. There are several floors of exhibitions, plus a museum shop and an organic cafe.

The Wellcome Collection is famous for its odd and wide-ranging displays of (mostly medicine-related) artefacts from all over the world, most of them personally chosen by Sir Henry. Over time the museum grew enough to exhibit limited shows that tickle scientific curiosity, such as the body's relationship to death and the science of sleeping and dreaming. All of these shows are completely free to the public, as is the library and its gorgeous reading room on the first floor.