In just a few weeks, Morbid Anatomy and our partners--Strange Attractor, UCL's Preserved! and The Coney Island Museum--will be launching the second annual London edition of the Congress for Curious Peoples. This year's Congress has the theme “Spectacular Cultures," and will present a variety of lectures, performances, open houses and tours at at a number of underseen curious venues around London with the aim of entertaining, delighting, amazing, educating and opening up discussion about the nature of spectacle and the spectacular.

The Congress will end in a two-day symposium on “Reclaiming Spectacle”, which will include panels of academics, museum professionals, rogue scholars and artists discussing the intricacies of collecting the spectacular, the politics of bodily display, non-human spectacles, religion and the occult. In conjunction with the events The Horse Hospital will host "Ethel Le Rossignol: A Goodly Company" an exhibition of stunningly beautiful channelled psychic artworks painted in the 1920s by the largely unknown medium and artist.
 
A few of our confirmed presenters thus far include:

• Bergit Arends, independent curator, London 
• Carla Connolly, curator of Barts Pathology Museum
• Chiara Ambrosio, Filmmaker and visual artist
• Richard Barnett, Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellow
• Dr Gavin Broad, senior curator, Hymenoptera, Natural History Museum 
• Brian Catling, artist, London
  Dr Tim Cockerill, artist and zoologist, London
• Eleanor Crook, sculptor and medical artist, London 
• Subhadra Das, Curator, UCL Teaching and Research Collections (Biomedical and Galton)
• Tessa Farmer, artist, London 
• Will Fowler, curator of artists’ moving images, BFI, National Archives
• Christina Harrington, director of Treadwell’s Bookshop
• Mervyn Heard, professional lanternist, London
• James Kennaway, Durham University
• Dr Matt Lodder, art historian, London 
• Ross MacFarlane, Research Officer, Wellcome Library, London 
• Dr. Bill MacLehose, senior lecturer in History of Science and Medicine, UCL 
• Anna Maerker, Senior Lecturer, History of Medicine, King's College London
• Eleanor Morgan, artist, London 
• Dr. Pat Morris, former lecturer in Zoology and mammal ecologist 
• Prof Dr Dietmar Rübel, art historian, Art Academy Dresden
• Shannon Taggart, Photographer/independent researcher
• Professor Vanessa Toulmin, Director of the National Fairground Archive, The University of Sheffield
• John Troyer, Deputy Director, Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath
• Simon Werrett, Lecturer, Science and Technology Studies, UCL
• The Real Tuesday Weld 

While a selection of confirmed venues include:

• Old Operating Theatre 
• St Bart’s Pathology Museum 
• Apiary Studios 
• Swedenborg Hall 
• Grant Museum 
• The Horse Hospital

Stay tuned, as very soon we hope to release a full programme, plus ticketing details. For all this and more as it becomes available, please keep checking back here, or visit the Congress website by clicking here. And hope to see you at one or more of these terrific events!
Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/07/congress-for-curious-people-london.html