The Mysteries of Sleeping and Dreaming Explored
Wellcome Collection Announces Second Major Temporary Exhibition

…Ron Mueck…Neurological Brain Scans…Freud… Pistol Alarm Clocks… Aristotle… Lullabies…

…The Beatles…Interrogation…Goya…Great Eureka Moments … Homeless Vehicles…Bed Bugs…

Sleeping and Dreaming Events Include:
Marina Abramovic's Dream Bed...Catherine Yass in conversation and film premier…Insomnia…24 hour society

3 August 2007: Sleeping and Dreaming a groundbreaking exhibition that combines art and medical science to explore sleep - the mysterious state we all inhabit for a third of our lives - will be the second major temporary exhibition at Wellcome Collection, the new public venue from the Wellcome Trust, it was announced today.

Wellcome Collection - www.wellcomecollection.org - opened on 21 June, 2007. During its first month of opening over 25,000 people visited and almost 1,000 took part in public events and tours.

Sleeping and Dreaming: 29 November 2007 - 10 March 2008.
Location: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE.
Entry is free.
Public information: www.wellcomecollection.org and +44 (0)20 7611 2222.
Press preview: 28 November 1000-1300hrs. Dr Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes and James Peto, Head Curator, Temporary Exhibitions, will lead a tour at 1130hrs.

Sleeping and Dreaming is the first of a two-part collaboration with the Hygiene Museum, Dresden, Germany's national museum of health. The exhibition draws together 300 objects across five major themes [detailed below] and a public events programme, to enable visitors to explore the biomedical and neurological processes that take place in the sleeping body and the social and cultural areas of our lives to which sleep and dreams are linked.

Sleeping and Dreaming public events include Marina Abramovic's Dream Bed, an installation in which visitors sleep and record their dreams, and artist Catherine Yass talking about how dreams have influenced her work and the premiere of a film inspired by her dreams. [Events are detailed below].

The exhibition is displayed alongside Wellcome Collection's two other permanent galleries Medicine Man and Medicine Now. Wellcome Collection combines these galleries together with the world famous Wellcome Library, a public events forum, café, bookshop, conference centre and members' club to provide visitors with radical insights into the human condition.

Sleeping and Dreaming exhibits range from work by artists Ron Mueck and Goya through to a victim of sleep deprivation interrogation talking about his experiences; a vehicle designed to provide homeless people with a mobile place to sleep; bizarre alarm clocks (one of which fires a pistol to ensure the sleeper gets up) and a large bed that visitors can lie on and listen to traditional lullabies.

The exhibition is presented across five major themes:

Dead Tired: Is a life without sleep conceivable? Dead Tired features Peter Tripp, an American DJ who, in 1959, broke the world record for staying awake by going without sleep for eight days. Tripp, who was broadcasting during the attempt, is said to have become increasingly incoherent and to have begun hallucinating towards the end of the experiment. His record was broken by fellow American, Randy Gardener, who stayed awake for 11 days in 1964, and whose experiences are also featured in the exhibition. Dead Tired explores the issues of sleep deprivation and features a victim of Stasi sleep deprivation interrogation talking about his experiences.

World Without Sleep: Artificial lighting has radically changed our sleeping habits and work patterns. Daylight and the changing seasons have given way to alarm clocks and stimulants to keep us awake. The exhibition explores spectacular sleep experiments held in caves and bunkers during the 1930s through to sleep in the modern world, highlighted by the Japanese practice of inemuri, sleeping in situ regardless of the occasion, from business meetings to parliament. An interactive exhibit gives advice on jet lag and how to avoid it, while Paul Ramirez Jonas' Another Day counts down the time to sunrise in 90 international cities. A collection of bizarre 'Heath Robinson' alarm clocks illustrate the ways in which people have woken through the ages. Examples include a clock that lights a candle, a clock that fires a pistol, and a device that transforms a gentleman's pocket watch into an alarm clock.

Elusive Sleep: Having a bedroom, a dedicated place for sleeping, is a relatively new phenomenon, only becoming standard in the West in the mid 20th Century. But a bedroom does not guarantee sleep, and how do those without a regular place to sleep rest and dream? Elusive Sleep features Krzysztof Wodiczko's Homeless Vehicle, a nomadic sleeping unit for homeless people which not only provides mobility, privacy and rest, but also functions as a political comment on social neglect. Nocturnal disturbances are also explored. A series of 1930s public health posters warn about the dangers of fleas and bed bugs alongside magnified examples of these insects. Insomnia and the increasing use of sleeping pills are also explored.

Dream Worlds: Dreaming challenges our rational model of the world. The laws of space and time are annulled and anything is possible. Sleeping and Dreaming examines how our dreaming and waking states intermingle: artists often attribute their creative ideas to nocturnal inspiration. Exhibits include Paul McCartney describing how the tune to the Beatles' Yesterday came to him in a dream, while musician, Giuseppe Tartini and scientist Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz, attribute great discoveries to dreams. Kekule, credited as the principal founder of the theory of chemical structure, said that the structure of carbon bonds in Benzene came to him in a dream as a snake biting its tale. The understanding of Benzene, and with it all aromatic compounds, provided a huge leap forward for chemistry. Also examined in the exhibition is Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. This publication, which is widely considered as Freud's most important contribution to psychology, placed dream-analysis at the heart of a new and radical approach to understanding the unconscious.

Traces of Sleep: In mythology and popular culture, sleep is often associated with other states of unconsciousness and death. The exhibition explores these themes through exhibits ranging from Aristotle's treatise on Sleep and Sleeplessness, in which he argues that sleep is caused by a cooling process taking place in the heart, through to Hans Berger's revolutionary electroencephalogram (EEG machine). Berger's machine, developed in the 1920s, showed for the first time that the brain never ceases to be active, even while we are asleep. His discovery debunked earlier science and set the scene for a new genre of sleep studies. Other exhibits include a 1930's machine designed to tune the nerves to prevent sleepwalking and Ron Mueck's compelling Swaddled Baby.

Collaboration with Hygiene Museum, Dresden, Germany
Wellcome Collection and the Hygiene Museum have developed a unique partnership with the aim of creating major exhibitions to be shown at both institutions. Drawing upon their own exceptional collections, these exhibitions will seek to engage the public on some of the most important issues relating to human health and wellbeing.

The Hygiene Museum developed Sleeping and Dreaming and Wellcome Collection, War and Medicine, details of which are yet to be announced. Sleeping and Dreaming was exhibited at the Hygiene Museum from 30 March - 3 October 2007 before coming to Wellcome Collection. War and Medicine will be on show from October 2008 - February 2009 at Wellcome Collection before moving to Dresden.

Dr Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes, Wellcome Collection, said: "Building on the huge success and public interest of The Heart, our first thematic show, this new exhibition applies the unique Wellcome Collection approach of freely mixing art, science and other disciplines to subjects of universal interest: sleeping and dreaming.

"Sleeping and Dreaming is one of two major collaborations with the Hygiene Museum in Dresden. It has already received spectacular reviews and huge visitor numbers during its showing there."

James Peto, Head Curator, Temporary Exhibitions, Wellcome Collection said: "Using documents and films from the world of science, together with cultural items including historical artefacts and the work of contemporary artists, this exhibition vividly demonstrates how the phenomena of sleeping and dreaming have inspired people's imagination through the ages.

"The partnership with the Hygiene Museum in Dresden enables us the public to see items from its outstanding collection alongside objects from the Wellcome Trust and other international institutions"

Sleeping and Dreaming Public Events
Sleeping and Dreaming public events enable visitors to explore the scientific and cultural aspects of sleep and dreams with medical and arts experts. A full list of events will be released prior to the exhibition opening. The list below details those already confirmed.

Dreaming
6 December 2007, 1900 - 2030hrs
Dreams were once considered to hold major personal and religious importance. Some cultures still consider this the case. Dreaming explores the personal, cultural and scientific aspects of dreaming and its function in wellbeing. Speakers: Mark Blagrove, Senior Lecturer of Psychology, Swansea University; Iain Edgar, Senior Lecturer of Anthropology, Durham University; Daniel Pick, Professor of Cultural and Intellectual History.

Catherine Yass in Conversation
7 February 2008, 1900 - 2130hrs
Artist Catherine Yass talks about her ideas on dreaming and her work on the subject. Central to the talk will be a premiere of a film she has made that captures her recounting her dreams the moment she wakes.

Marina Abramovic's Dream Bed
7 - 24 February 2008
Artist Marina Abramovic's Dream Bed will be part of the Sleeping and Dreaming exhibition for 17 days during February 2008. During this time members of the public can book to sleep in the Dream Bed for one hour. Participants will don dream suits, earphones and eye masks for the hour they are in Dream Bed, They will be asked to record their experiences in the 'Dream Book' in which sleepers from all over the world have recorded their dreams following their stay in the Dream Bed. Dream Bed is on loan with the kind permission of Marina Abramovic and Sean Kelly Gallery New York where it was on display in 2002. It has also been on show at The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University.

Insomnia
22 February 2008, 1900 - 2100hrs
23 February 2008, 1000 - 1600hrs
A day and a half symposium to explore insomnia through science, psychology, history sociology, literature and art, held in partnership with the Wellcome Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL.

Speakers Include: Kenton Kroker, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies, York University, Toronto; Professor Eluned Sumner Bremner, Department of Women's Studies, University of Aukland; Kevin Morgan, Director of Insomnia Research Programme at Loughborough Sleep Research Centre, Loughborough University; Chris Idzikowski, Director, Edinburgh Sleep Centre; Professor Russell Foster, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford; Frances Morris, Tate Modern.

Further details to be announced for Insomnia and the programme is subject to change.

An End To Feeling Shattered?
28 February, 1900 - 2030hrs
Are we searching for the day when we never have to sleep? The emergence of narcolepsy prescription drugs on the black market has show there is public demand for healthy people to try and medicate and control the hours they sleep. Big questions are faced by society, drug companies and medical science - should the option to limit sleep be available?

Speakers: Dr Simon Williams, Lecturer in Sociology, Warwick Unviersity; Julia Boyle, Deputy Head of HPRU Medical Research Centre, University of Surrey; John Harris, Professor of Bioethics, University of Manchester.


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Press Information

Wellcome Collection
Media Centre: www.kallaway.co.uk/wellcome.htm

Press contacts:
Will Kallaway
T +44 (0)20 7221 7883
E will.kallaway@kallaway.co.uk

Anna Cusden:
T +44 (0)20 7221 7883
E anna.cusden@kallaway.co.uk

Wellcome Trust
Media centre: www.wellcome.ac.uk/aboutus/mediaoffice

Press contacts:
Katrina Nevin-Ridley
T +44 (0)20 7611 8540
E k.nevin-ridley@wellcome.ac.uk

Craig Brierley
T +44 (0)20 7611 7329
E c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk

Mike Findlay
T +44 (0)20 7611 8612
E m.findlay@wellcome.ac.uk

About Wellcome Collection: www.wellcomecollection.org
Wellcome Collection is a new £30 million visitor attraction from the Wellcome Trust that opened on 21 June 2007. Admission is free.

During its first month of opening over 25,000 people visited the building and almost 1,000 took part in events or public tours.

Wellcome Collection is a world first. It combines three contemporary galleries together with the world-famous Wellcome Library, public events forum, café, bookshop, conference centre and members' club, to provide visitors with radical insight into the human condition.

Wellcome Collection builds on the vision, legacy and personal collection of Wellcome Trust founder Sir Henry Wellcome and is part of the Wellcome Trust's mission to foster understanding and promote research to improve human and animal health. The building is centred around three substantial galleries totalling 1350m²:

	Special exhibitions (650m2): The largest gallery in Wellcome Collection is used to host temporary exhibitions, presenting newly commissioned works and thematic shows structured around topics of medical, cultural and ethical significance. The opening exhibition is The Heart, 21 June - 16 September 2007.
	Medicine Man (350m2): The permanent exhibition contains more than 500 strange and beautiful artefacts from Sir Henry Wellcome's original collection, presented in a rich American walnut-paneled gallery, centered on a large 'Wunderkammer' cabinet.
	Medicine Now (350 m2): The permanent Medicine Now exhibition explores contemporary medical topics through the eyes of scientists, artists and popular culture in a bright contemporary environment.
	Public events: A lively programme of public events expand on exhibition themes. Wellcome Collection's flexible events space, the Forum, will bring audiences face-to-face with prominent experts and personalities from the worlds of art, science and the humanities, to explore current issues and ancient mysteries of human wellbeing. There are ten events from launch until September 2007.

Wellcome Library: The Wellcome Library contains over two million items and is one of the world's greatest collections for the study of the history and progress of medicine. The public areas of the Library span two floors of Wellcome Collection and include the fully restored Reading Room, first used as a Hall of Statuary by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1932.

About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK and the second largest medical research charity in the world. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing. ?Wellcome Trust funding has supported a number of major successes, including:

sequencing the human genome
establishing the UK Biobank
development of the antimalarial drug artemisinin
pioneering cognitive behavioural therapies for psychological disorders
building the Wellcome Wing at the Science Museum
the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the largest ever genetic study
of common diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and bipolar
disorder

The Wellcome Trust is a charity registered in England, no. 210183.


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