High Society: Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture

We all hope that the art we view can inspire us, as the audience, to take a different perspective on an age old question; to make the familiar unfamiliar again. A new exhibition, High Society: Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture, at the Wellcome Collection in London does exactly this. By examining the history of narcotics and exposing the ever changing role of drugs in society, this show takes a different look on the use of drugs. Who would have thought that in the early 20th century, Western mothers treated their coughing child with heroin syrup? Or that Robert Louis Stevenson could have written The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde while under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug similar to LSD? And what does this mean today? Take a look at the slides below for a mind altering experience and read more about this show on We Make Money Not Art.