Living and Dying, British Museum

In room 24 i found the 'Living and Dying' exhibition. On entering the room the overall mass and variety of objects felt daunting. Only until half an hour after arriving you felt the theme really emerging. The overwhelming feeling of worry seemed to grasp me, this fear of ill-health or death seemed to stem over all diverse cultures. As any hypochondriac would know that the search for putting your mind at rest about ill-health is an exhausting issue, but it seemed belittled by the lengths that some cultures went to to prevent an illness, some practices often pointless or infact causing more damage.

One piece in particular i related to more than others was the 'Cradle to Grave' by Pharmacopoeia. Each length of fabric containing over 14,000 drugs representing the amount the average Britain takes in a lifetime. The shock of the visual aspect really makes you wonder how society today have become almost obsessive with preventing illness. The exhibition made me think that like the previous cultures and civilistions before us could our new modern obsession with medicine also be pointless or damaging?