Uploaded July 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
‘Rooted Beings’ invites you to embark on a meditative reflection on the world of plants and fungi. The exhibition considers what we might learn from plant behaviour, and the impacts of colonial expeditions on the exploitation of natural resources and indigenous knowledges.
You’ll see botanical archives from Wellcome Collection and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew displayed alongside works by artists Gözde İlkin, Ingela Ihrman and Joseca, with new commissions by Patricia Domínguez, Eduardo Navarro, RESOLVE Collective and Sop.
Plants sustain life on earth. They are sensitive, complex and interconnected beings, playing surprisingly active roles in ecosystems and human societies. ‘Rooted Beings’ asks if we can become more rooted, attentive, flexible and caring – and attain vegetal enlightenment.
The exhibition is curated by Bárbara Rodríguez Muñoz with Emily Sargent.
‘Rooted Beings’ is a collaboration between Wellcome Collection and La Casa Encendida, Madrid. Commission partners: Delfina Foundation, De La Warr Pavilion, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation.
Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/wellcomecollection
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/explorewellcome
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‘Rooted Beings’ invites you to embark on a meditative reflection on the world of plants and fungi. The exhibition considers what we might learn from plant behaviour, and the impacts of colonial expeditions on the exploitation of natural resources and indigenous knowledges.
You’ll see botanical archives from Wellcome Collection and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew displayed alongside works by artists Gözde İlkin, Ingela Ihrman and Joseca, with new commissions by Patricia Domínguez, Eduardo Navarro, RESOLVE Collective and Sop.
Plants sustain life on earth. They are sensitive, complex and interconnected beings, playing surprisingly active roles in ecosystems and human societies. ‘Rooted Beings’ asks if we can become more rooted, attentive, flexible and caring – and attain vegetal enlightenment.
The exhibition is curated by Bárbara Rodríguez Muñoz with Emily Sargent.
‘Rooted Beings’ is a collaboration between Wellcome Collection and La Casa Encendida, Madrid. Commission partners: Delfina Foundation, De La Warr Pavilion, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation.
Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/wellcomecollection
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/explorewellcome
See us on Instagram: instagram.com/wellcomecollection



![Grace Spence Green on disability, politics and her new book To Exist as I Am
We caught up with Grace Spence Green - doctor, disability activist, and author - to talk about disability, politics and her new book To Exist as I Am: A Doctors Notes on Recovery and Radical Acceptance ✨
Grace Spence Green is a junior doctor working to challenge the narratives surrounding disability, medicine and identity. In 2018, aged 22 and a fourth year medical student, she sustained a spinal cord injury and is now a full-time wheelchair user. Since her life-changing injury, Grace has become a passionate advocate for the disabled community, appearing in the BMJ and Guardian, and across TV and radio.
0:00: intro
0.05: disability = stigma
0:44: inappropriate things people say to wheelchair users
03:06: what disability means
04:30: what is radical acceptance
05:01: the role of hope and care in activism
Read an extract online: https://wellcomecollection.org/stories/waking-up-in-a-new-body
Pick up your copy at Wellcome Collections bookshop or your nearest bookstore 📚 https://profilebooks.com/work/to-exist-as-i-am/
[Alt text: Were watching a video of Grace speaking directly to the camera in our Reading Room – a nice, cosy, space with books, lounge chairs and bean bags. She has long brown hair and wears red lipstick, round yellow glasses, and a sweater-vest-shirt combo. She is sitting in her wheel chair with one leg crossed over the opposite knee.]
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Threads: https://www.threads.com/@wellcomecollection Grace Spence Green on disability, politics and her new book To Exist as I Am](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iIZdczJWvSo/mqdefault.jpg)




![Emma Dabiri on how to break free from mainstream beauty ideals
How do filters and flawless selfies affect our personal ideas about beauty? And what can we do when social media makes us feel anything but beautiful?
Join Emma Dabiri, author, sociologist, and social media user, as she delves into the complexities of beauty standards accelerated by the digital age.
Dabiri offers five tips that have helped her break free from mainstream beauty ideals and redefine beauty on her own terms.
This video has been made to accompany The Cult of Beauty exhibition – showing at Wellcome Collection until 28 April 2024 – as well as the publication of Disobedient Bodies, a book written by Emma Dabiri and published by Wellcome Collection.
For more information on The Cult of Beauty: https://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/ZJ1zCxAAACMAczPA
For more information on Disobedient Bodies by Emma Dabiri: https://wellcomecollection.org/books/ZO7vDxEAACYAjU5t
0:00 - Intro
0:33 - Social media, self-esteem and representation
01:41 - Tip 1: focus more on inner beauty
02:11 - Tip 2: cultivate community
02:40 - Tip 3: recognise the importance of group activities
03:31 - Tip 4: surround yourself with beauty
04:02 - Tip 5: Dispense with the defect mindset
#TheCultOfBeauty #WellcomeCollection
Music: Nkisi, Lament II (instrumental)
*Artist credits:*
An Algorithmic Gaze II, 2023, by Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm: https://www.instagram.com/artificialmind_ai/
Steam, The Bully Pulpit, Haley Morris-Cafiero, 2019, Courtesy the artist and TJ Boulting: https://www.instagram.com/hmorriscafiero
Permissible Beauty, 2022, © RCMG / Soup Co [film stills] / © Robert Taylor [production stills] / Reproduced with permission of RCMG, University of Leicester/ Soup Co. [new photography] https://www.instagram.com/permissiblebeauty
‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, Beauty unravelled in the virtual scroll’, Xcessive Aesthetics, 2023: https://www.instagram.com/xcessiveaesthetics
Beauty Sensorium, 2023, Renaissance Goo x Baum & Leahy, commissioned by Wellcome Collection: https://www.instagram.com/baumleahy and https://www.instagram.com/profjillburke Emma Dabiri on how to break free from mainstream beauty ideals](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jIkwgV38L9Y/mqdefault.jpg)

