One week until Halloween, how’s your spooky month going?
I’ve actually not done as much Halloween-based adventures as I’d of liked! But I thought I’d show you something in keeping with the season – the eery delights of the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities!
I’ll be honest with you right now – these photos were taken back in May. Me and my housemate had been talking about coming here for ages, and on my birthday we finally decided to take the trip up to Hackney. Did I bother to write up about it? No. Do I remember everything I saw five months on? Ohh yes I do!
Viktor Wynd is one hell of an eccentric bloke, to be honest. He describes himself as a ‘pataphysicist, writer, curator, collector, dealer, dilettante, naturalist and antiquarian’. And now he shows his extensive collection below The Last Tuesday Society. A cocktail bar in keeping with the eccentric gallery feel based in Shoreditch, East London.
The Weird and the Wonderful
Since there’s so few curiosity museums in the UK, if at all, I had no idea what to expect. There was so many… things there. And every item in there made me curious, a little grossed out and completely enthralled.
It’s a small space, but that does not mean it’s not completely worth a visit. It is packed to the rafters with taxidermy, skulls, skeletons and shells of all kinds and every weird thing you can think of. Items of note are the mini-gallery of erotic Japanese wood block prints tucked at the back, a tarot-reading lion… oh, and a jar of Amy Winehouse’s shit.
Some of my favourite parts included miniature fairy skeletons that were scattered amongst the displays, as seen above. I also enjoyed the mummified ‘mermaid’ towards the back of the museum — and even the jar of Amy Winehouse’s shit I stared up at with morbid curiosity.
We easily spent up to an hour looking at displays two or three times each, reading every wonderful story accompanying items — how they were found, or given to Viktor Wynd himself. It was thoroughly enjoyable and memorable, considering that five months later I remember every piece!
Entry to the Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities is a measly £6. With the cocktail bar above, it’s the ideal place to spend a spooky evening with friends. The Last Tuesday Society also hold a plethora of events, including life drawing and taxidermy classes. I wholeheartedly recommend coming here for an afternoon, at least!
Have you been to a curiosity museum? Maybe you’ve been to Viktor Wynd yourself? Let me know in the comments!
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