To round off the winter term in December 2025, the Community Partnerships team at the British Museum hosted CNWL Arts in Health for a unique guided tour showcasing a variety of the pieces in the museum’s collection.
The afternoon started with an introduction to the people, places and cultures key to the history of the British Museum’s collection. Different objects were displayed in the Clore Centre for our group to examine and handle, before setting off on a tour around a few different galleries.
The first stop was the Enlightenment Gallery. There was a huge range of objects in glass cabinets, including natural specimens from the Caribbean, but also Greek and Italian sculptures. The Wellcome Gallery was our next stop. The Moai statue by Rapanui was a stand-out in discovering how different cultures come together to preserve the health and well-being of their communities throughout their lives. The Africa Galleries were the final stop of the visit. The group was drawn to the intricacy and liveliness of the art mediums in this display – the masquerades, which merged Afro-Caribbean tradition with contemporary elements, and El Anatsui’s bottle cap and copper wire weaving were particularly memorable. Just before ending the tour, we took a moment to take in the beautiful Reading Room at the centre of the museum.
At the end of the visit, we returned to the Clore Centre for a more in-depth discussion to reflect on what we had seen on the tour. We want to thank the British Museum for leading us on a wonderful visit once again.
If you are interested in hearing more about the work of Arts in Health, please do not hesitate to contact our team. You can email us on cnwlartsinhealth@nhs.net or visit our website.
