WHAT? Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights

WHERE? Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE

WHEN? Now until 27th April 2025. Free to view

WHY GO?  To reassess what really matters.  If you’ve ever felt that work is all too consuming, this thoughtful, well researched exhibition spotlights how important it is to get the work-life balance right. 

It’s a call to action.  Workers who have been exploited, workers who are undervalued or just workers who have put work first at the expense of their health is the focus.  If any of that sounds vaguely familiar, consider what should be done to resolve these issues and why nowadays we all have basic rights. 

It’s a veritable minefield of laws and rules revealing how manipulators of the system have thrived in the past but hopefully are taken to task in our modern age.  Or are they?  Domestic workers are still being exploited by wealthy landlords, rural casual farm labourers are still being underpaid by land owners. 

It requires the admirable research undertaken by the Wellcome Collection for such a hard hitting exhibition to work.  It is the top institution for reinforcing the value of healthcare and  how inequalities in the past need to be addressed for the health of the future.

Sub divided into three main areas; The Plantation, The Street and The Home, through photographs, artworks and powerful multimedia interviews, Hard Graft portrays inequality in society and makes us question our own attitudes and whether we do actually know what a hard day's work is really all about!

IN THE KNOW  Whilst the exhibition provides a stimulating mental work out, it also includes a lighter playful touch from artist Lubaina Himid whose work is frequently shown in major galleries. Check out her much loved graphic series Metal Handkerchiefs which depicts her interpretation of those worthy ‘health and safety ‘manuals. 

In her idiosyncratic style, using simple statements, she repositions them as everyday codes to follow.