Hello Brain: Crick Institute

Not, as I accidentally read, Hello Brian.

Exhibitions are so much about context. I'd not been into the Crick Institute before, and was absolutely awed by the enormous atrium around which floors of glass-walled labs offer glimpses into the activities within. It's like a contemporary cathedral to science.

The exhibition area is the interface, the public engagement space, between all that proper, world-class research going on nearby, and us lot. It's a tricky brief, to offer an exhibition about the brain to all who may drop by - scientists, non scientists, students, families, children. I'd say the exhib largely succeeds - there are touchy feely exhibits and children's activities through to QR code links to further research papers. Each theme about the brain has a little vignette display, and there is bound to be something for everyone to find interesting or intriguing.

The space is further brightened by trails of knitted neurons - a great craft project in itself. More dodgy are some pendulous hanging protuberances which are available to sniff. To me they just smelled like cushions, they're too high for children, and I wouldn't like to go near them once the exhibition has been running for a few months.

And so to the wider context. I do love a sci-art exhibition, and genuine collaborations with scientists and contemporary artists. I also love to see historical scientific exhibits in old and new settings. I've strayed into what is not in this particular exhibition, but the wider context is the nearby Wellcome Trust and indeed the British Library, all a stroll near enough to combine into a marvellous, enlightening and totally free visit, right in the buzzy atmosphere of working scientists and researchers, keen to impart knowledge.

Hello Brain 

The Francis Crick Institute

1 Midland Road, London NW1 1AT 

2nd March to 7th  December 2024

www.crick.ac.uk hello-brain