After studying anthropology at uni I was eager to head to this exhibition as I’m fascinated about exploring different cultures and their rituals and beliefs. I was lucky enough to study the ‘Bajo’ sea gypsies in South East Sulawesi and looked at their rituals from newborns to newlyweds.

Excited to reminisce about my anthropology hay days I felt like Bruce Parry in Tribe, entering a world of different rituals and ideas on the human body.

The ‘Skin’ exhibition is a free invitation to re-evaluate the largest and probably most overlooked human organ. Covering four different themes including Objects, Marks, Impressions and Afterlives ‘Skin’ is perceived as a living document of our emotions and experiences and this exhibition takes us on a virtual journey around our skin.

If you’re not a big fan of museums and exhibitions, then this is definitely one to change your mind. There’s a sense of morbid fascination as you work your way round the gallery, looking at skin shavings of tattoos, videos of skin grafting (not for the faint-hearted), close-ups of skin cells, scars and stitches, wrinkles and detailed anatomical drawings. 

The whole exhibition is a cultural, religious and social portrayal of the significance of your skin and how it is treated. The stresses and strains we put our bodies through and also the natural ageing process.

You really get a sense of being in someone else’s skin with this collection, and, to continue the pun - some of this really makes your skin crawl.

We also happened upon the Medicine Man permanent exhibition where Henry Wellcome’s collections of extraordinary objects are exhibited. We came across an unusual hodgepodge of items including a mummified Peruvian body of the Chimu, ritual masks, torture equipment, phallic amulets and prosthetic limbs. 

Both collections provided an insight into fascinating people and beliefs and feeds your macabre curiosity. 

www.wellcomecollection.org