On A sunny day: ITP Fellows 2026 Visiting Wellcome Collection
Written by Hilal Al Hashemi, Stores Supervisor in collection Department, Oman Across Ages Museum (Oman, ITP 2026)
Hello everyone, my name is Hilal Al Hashemi, I’m glad to get the chance this year to be part of the International Training Programme 2026. It has been my dream to get a professional programme in museum practice since March 2021 when I moved to Oman Across Ages Museum, and this year I could not believe my self when I received the message to accept in the programme. It’s amazing opportunity to learn from museum professionals across the world like British Museum and to go back to home with new ideas.
On a sunny day we started our journey to Wellcome Collection in 12 August 2026, that we arrive at 8:35 AM. After getting the visitor pass, we have had a nice hospitality of tea, coffee and cold juice in Wellcome Trust with Rachel Sturgis, Cultural Partnerships Lead and Julia Nurse, Research Development Lead, and at 9:00 am we move to a comfortable hall to start an introduction to Wellcome Collection – where they explained the day’s programme and we discovered what makes Wellcome Collection a museum focused on health, humanity and contemporary culture. Later, at 9:15-9:50, we were given presentations about how Wellcome Collection uses exhibitions and collections to examine health and how develops live programmes.
The programme was perfectly organized. We were divided into two groups – the first group started their tour in the exhibition: The Coming of Age. It was a wonderful tour and we learned many things, including: an introduction about the gallery with guide book, and how we get the idea of making useful temporary exhibition from wood materials and freestanding showcases and reuse it many times.
After that, we go to amazing library with more than a million resource books – most of them in medical science; and a comfortable place for study and there is scanner room, and the interesting thing they have a corner for office supplies and smart evaluation board.
After visiting the exhibition of being human with an interesting exercise to explore the gallery we go to have lunch with a nice helpful welcome collection team.
Our interesting afternoon sessions started with a short presentation case study on how accessibility, equity and inclusion shape decision-making across Wellcome Collection. Then, in our same groups, we went to the library hall and attended presentations by Wellcome Collection equity team to explore strategy approach and research development; and learned about the founder of Wellcome Collection (Henry Wellcome 1853-1936) and about Wellcome Trust. Also, they explained in brief about the collections and the archives and manuscripts and collection development.
Last station was to visit conservation studio and collection stores. I like this station we learn many things about how to conserve and preserve negative image and how to conserve and discover historical painting and also how to use Ultrasonic in conserving manuscript, and finally we visit cold room of storing negative films and manuscripts and documents store.
We learn a lot of museum practice thank you Wellcome Collection Team about welcoming us and for each helpful information, I hope to go back and visit it again.