Museum Late – March
Royal College of Physicians Museum
2nd March 2023 | 5:30PM
Explore the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) museum and brand new exhibition ‘Unfamiliar’ after hours.
This month’s Late will feature special guests and co-curators of the exhibition photographer Theo Deproost and physician associate Debbie Jegede.
Discover exhibition ‘Unfamiliar’
The RCP museum is delighted to introduce photographer Theo Deproost and physician associate Debbie Jegede. Together, Theo and Debbie identified objects from within the depths of our museum stores which intrigue, surprise and delight them. Debbie’s clinical curiosity and Theo’s creative eye bring together the worlds of medicine and art, as they reinterpret items from our medical and fine art collections. The stunning results are displayed in the exhibition, alongside the original objects to highlight their hidden richness and beauty.
Theo’s photographs offer new, altered perspectives that challenge our understanding and impression of supposedly inert museum objects. Theo and Debbie invite us to approach these objects and images with a curious mind, to experience them in unexpected ways, and reinterpret them through the lens of our own experiences.
Join a curator introduction
At 6pm and 7pm enjoy a curator’s introduction to the exhibition.
Explore the Museum after hours
Visitors will be able to explore our:
- portraits and silver, displayed throughout the building
- fascinating Symons collection of artefacts which would have been used by physicians and for self-care in the home
- Prujean chest of 17th century surgical instruments
- extraordinary set of 17th-century human remains – John Finch’s anatomical tables which give a fascinating insight into dissection and discovery in anatomy
Unfamiliar – virtual curator talk
Royal College of Physicians Museum
14th March 2023 | 1:00PM
Join one of the RCP Museum team for a virtual talk exploring some of the objects that inspired our latest exhibition, ‘Unfamiliar’ and how the exhibition was created.
Co-curated by photographer Theo Deproost and physician associate Debbie Jegede the exhibition offers stunning new interpretations of items from our medical and fine art collections. Debbie’s clinical curiosity and Theo’s creative eye bring together the worlds of medicine and art offering new, altered perspectives that challenge our understanding and impression of supposedly inert museum objects.
Hear from a member of our curatorial team about the process of a collaborative exhibition and take a look at the beautiful new artworks along with the objects that inspired them
Access requirements
Opening hours
Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm. and until 8pm on the first Thursday of the month. Closed weekends, bank holidays and ceremony days – please check the website for details.
RCP Museum – Virtual taster tour
Royal College of Physicians Museum
17th March 2023 | 1:00PM
17 March 2023 1pm – 1.30pm
Get a taste of the Royal College of Physicians fascinating 500 year history as you virtually explore our award-winning building with an expert guide.
For those who cannot make it to our home on the edge of Regent’s Park, London this is a great chance to join a free lunchtime virtual tour of the RCP’s iconic building, exploring our history and collections guided live by an expert from the RCP Archive, Heritage Library and Museum team.
Discover the RCP’s historic building from the comfort of your own home as your personal guide uses a virtual walk-through plus beautiful images and videos from our collections to provide a unique tour experience.
Access requirements
Please note our event is not live captioned however if accessing our event using Google Chrome there is the option to turn on autocaptioning for live events – find out how here.
The RCP aims to be welcoming and accessible to all. Find out more about our facilities and access: https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/visit-us/accessibility
Hands on with history- MARCH
Royal College of Physicians Museum
22nd March 2023 | 12:00PM
Get hands on with medical history at the RCP Museum’s March lunchtime handling session.
Register for free – drop in anytime between 12pm and 2pm, on 22 March 2023
Join a member of the archives, heritage library and museum team to explore a selection of objects from our collection. You will handle the everyday and the essential tools of physicians over time from early stethoscopes to ceramic spittoons. Learn the stories behind how these objects shaped advances in medical history over time as you experience for yourself the equipment used by doctors in the past.
Plus have a go at diagnosing historic diseases! Can you diagnose a patient’s ailment from a historic description? Find out what physicians in the past thought and how they would have treated these ailments.
You can also explore the rest of the museum including:
- Temporary exhibition, ‘Unfamiliar’, taking a new look at the collections
- The Prujean chest of 17th century surgical implements
- Collections of silver, sculpture and fine art throughout the building
- The Hoffbrand collection of apothecary jars and the Symons collection of medical instruments
- The anatomical tables – 17th century human remains made into teaching tools.
Access requirements
Opening hours
Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm. and until 8pm on the first Thursday of the month. Closed weekends, bank holidays and ceremony days – please check the website for details.
Mary Seacole as Doctress, Nurse and Healer (Royal College of Nursing)
Royal College of Nursing Library & Heritage Centre
29th March 2023 | 6:00PM
In the annual RCN History of Nursing Forum lecture, Helen Rappaport explores the making of Mary Seacole as a cultural icon, delving into her contributions to nursing and medicine alongside her holistic practice.
Having been raised in Jamaica and worked in Panama, Mary Seacole came to England in the 1850s and volunteered to help out during the Crimean War. When her services were turned down, she financed her own expedition to Balaclava, where she earned her reputation as a nurse and for her compassion. Popularly known as ‘Mother Seacole’, she was the most famous Black celebrity of her generation – an extraordinary achievement in Victorian Britain. She regularly mixed with illustrious royal and military patrons and they, along with grateful war veterans, helped her recover financially when she faced bankruptcy. However, after her death in 1881, she was largely forgotten for many years.
More recently, her profile has been revived and her reputation lionised, with a statue of her standing outside St Thomas’s Hospital in London and her portrait – rediscovered by the author – is now on display in the National Portrait Gallery. Rappaport reveals the truth about Seacole’s personal life and her ‘rivalry’ with Florence Nightingale. Often the reality proves to be even more remarkable and dramatic than the legend.
In Search of Mary Seacole by Helen Rappaport is out in paperback on 17 February with Simon & Schuster.
This event is open to all and you can attend in person or virtually. Doors open at 6pm and the lecture starts at 6.30pm. Please book your free ticket on the link below.
