The many sides of pain

15 April 2004

A sculpture of the crucified Christ, the tooth of an Egyptian ghoul said to cure neck pain and a bullfighter's costume, carefully preserved for more than 80 years, are among the unusual items in the Wellcome Trust's latest exhibition at the Science Museum, 'Pain: Passion, compassion, sensibility'. The bullfighter's costume was worn by Manuel Granero who, in the 1920s, was the dashing young hero of the bullfighting world. Then, on 7 May 1922, in front of a horrified crowd in Madrid, Granero was fatally gored by a bull named Pocapena - literally, ‘little pain’.

The inclusion of the costume is typical of the Science Museum show, which is curated by Dr Javier Moscoso of the University of Murcia, and takes a wide-ranging, eclectic and distinctly Spanish view of a challenging topic. It also includes a wide variety of more conventional medical imagery and objects, as well as modern artworks touching upon pain. While recognising the physiological basis of pain, the exhibition also explores its many social, cultural and historical ramifications, inviting visitors to reflect on their own personal perspectives of this intensely subjective sensation.

…Pain on the big screen

In partnership with the Documentary Filmmakers Group and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, three films will be screened during March, April and May at the ICA cinema, followed by an audience debate fronted by a panel of key speakers.

The April film, ‘Long Gone’, will explore ‘pain, loss and trauma’ and the May film ‘Dying to Tell the Story’, ‘conveying and representing pain’.

...Pain on CD-ROM

An innovative multimedia CD-ROM has been produced for the ‘Pain’ exhibition at the Science Museum.

It features a gallery of works from the exhibition, audio and video clips, including a snippet of an extraordinary surgical amputation carried out in 1903 as well as interviews with the Curator, Dr Javier Moscoso, and with patients suffering from chronic pain, and 13 specially commissioned essays on scientific, medical, historical, social and philosophical aspects of pain - examining brain imaging, pain and consciousness, pain and religion, visual representations of pain, pain and flamenco music and much more.

The CD-ROM is available for £2 from the Science Museum shop. Five copies (postage and packing free) for £10 can be ordered from the Wellcome Trust. Email pain@wellcome.ac.uk for further details.

The many sides of pain

…Pain on the big screen

...Pain on CD-ROM

See also