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It is not the most original question, even though it has kept mankind going for a while now: ‘Who are we?’ or rather ‘Who am I?’. To be precise as this is a question which can’t easily be conjugated. The display at the Wellcome Collection is, as always, perfectly curated – neat partition walls divide the spacious ground floor into themed compartments, which are dedicated to slightly controversial individual from April Ashley to Samuel Pepys. 

Each room is celebrating a different aspect of nature v. nurture. The concepts are all a bit predictable: physical identity, inherited identity, sexual identity, psychological identity, genetic identity, gender identity, creative identity etc. What is however interesting is how the concepts are presented or rather who was chosen to represent such aspects of self. One compartment is dedicated to the ingenious artist Claude Cahun and shows her wonderfully inspired photographs and correspondence while another room focuses on Fiona Shaw and the transmutation of the self through acting. Evidently there are some more scientific minded personalities on display too: Francis Galton, a Victorian scientist and half-cousin of Charles Darwin – Alex Jeffreys, a DNA pioneer etc. The exhibition is packed with wired and wonderful facts, images and particulars.

It is a well thought out exhibition, put together in an exemplary manner. Several interactive nukes and crannies hold some surprises beyond the usual headphone devise. In Samuel Pepys’ room for instance we can find a whole bookshelf with autobiographies and memoires for the visitors to pick up and read at leisure. We can find books on the lives of Captain Cook, Anne Frank and Anais Nin etc. The autobiographies emphasise just how subjective, powerful and prophetic self-expression can be. We are also reminded of contemporary blogging and how electronic diaries as a popular way of creating identity.

The strength of this exhibition is not to the ground breaking scientific news or methodical creative strategies that constitute identity, but the unique opportunity to get better acquainted with the life and work of some extraordinary individuals. I could not rid myself of the feeling that some of these individuals were chosen from the celebrity B-list to be resumed to their rightful glory. However, in the process they got pinned to the spot like gaudy butterflies, selected like specimen to represent one tiny fraction of identity. I resented the partition walls as for me identity is in be blurring of contradictions and surely the more we search for identity the more we are unable to put a finger on it.

Even so, I very much recommend this show if you have got a couple of hours on your hands and happen to be in Zone 1.But one word of warning: be prepared for the many mirrors that are placed strategically all around the exhibition, including an early Egyptian silver disc, which aim to make the exhibition a personal experience.

Wellcome Collection, Euston Rd. until 6 April. Entry free.

Text by Valeria Melchioretto