Jack Gann

@jackgann.bsky.social

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Historian and curator. Museums, Victorians, and medicine. Currently curator at Thackray Museum of Medicine, Leeds

A photo of highly contested shelves in a Spanish supermarket, filled with World Cup-themed Lay's crisps. World Cup semi-finalists England and Argentina are represented by the respective national cuisines of "bangers and mash" flavour and "asado" flavour.
An empty, bare corridor with white temporary walls during some sort of remodelling of the already kind of liminal airport departure lounge. The effect is enhanced by the giant TV monitors intended for advertising instead just showing rows and rows of unblinking eyes.
A photo of the front page of the Yorkshire Post newspaper. The main story is about new prime minister Andy Burnham's approach to the cost of living crisis. The skyline above the Post's banner begins with the teaser "The power of plants' healing" alongside a photo of me holding an old book, surrounded by giant flowers. The accompanying text reads "Rare book 'A Curious Herbal' created in 1730s, is centrepiece of Leeds exhibition".
A poster for a museum exhibition called "Where Magic Grows" at Thackray Museum of Medicine. On a dark green background, vibrantly colourful leaves and flowers grow around the title and tagline "Play and explore in our wondrous indoor garden". A silhouette of a child reaching up to a butterfly indicates the exhibition's intended audience of children.
The entrance to a museum gallery at Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds. It shows a pink graphic with a Victorian anatomical illustration of a man with his chest opened to reveal his interior organs. The picture is detailed and weirdly sensual, his wrists are bound above his head in a slightly BDSM style. The exhibition title reads: "Beneath the Sheets: Anatomy, Art and Power".
The historic midwifery and sex guide "Aristotle's Compleat Masterpiece" on display at Thackray Museum of Medicine. The page is open to a description of female sexual organs (referred to as "the secret parts of that curious piece of nature that we are to lay open"). It describes the clitoris as "like a yard [penis] in situation, substance, composition, and erection", arguing that this is the part that "gives delight in copulation ... without this, the fair sex neither desire mutual embraces, nor have pleasure in them, nor conceive by them."
A photo of shelves of Bluey toys in a toy shop. A child's hand is reaching out to press the light up version of the Furby-esque Chattermax, a toy that only exists as an in-show parody of the worst kind of irritating, flashing, beeping toys that every parent (and ultiamtely many kids) hate.
A page from the I Spy book headed "Ghosts". The illustration shows a nervous woman looking into a mirror, clutching a shawl around her neck, her face an expression of pure dread. From nowhere, a chilling phantasmal apparition has appeared in the reflection, an uncanny grin fixed to his face. It's the Michelin Man.
The opening page introduction to "I Spy: Ghosts, Mysteries & Legends", featuring a picture of a unicorn, for those who find red squirrels and golden eagles too easy to spot in the regular series entries. The text, more metaphysical than the I Spy audience may be used to, suggests: "Of course, with modern science and learning, we can find explanations for most things, but not everything. Some of the best things in the world - such as love and all the great religions - have mysteries at their heart. 'I Spy: Ghosts, Mysteries & Legends' is a reminder that there is a world beyond the one we can I Spy."
A photo of a child's hands ticking off plants and flowers she has seen in an "I Spy" book
The "about" section on the "Who Can I Vote For?" website for a candidate for local councillor in the 2026 UK election. All it says is "Nilesh Chohan. Favourite biscuit: malted milk"
A close up photograph of the skull of enigmacursor, the dog-sized herbivorous dinosaur newly on display at the Natural History Museum since last summer, seen against the glowing red globe of the museum's Earth Hall. The composition of the image vaguely recalls the iconic Jurassic Park logo.
A photo from a museum gallery of a display case and its interpretation. The white wall is covered by a curtain, lit from below with pink light to create a blushing gradient. Seen through the thin curtain, you can read a quote from Andreas Vesalius's Fabrica: "Perhaps you sometimes delight in consideration of the most perfectly constructed of all creatures". A tall banner hanging beside the display case shows one such perfectly constructed creature: an illustration from Fabrica of the principle muscles of the body on a skinless man striking a tragic pose against a background the rolling hills and tall spires of the Italian landscape.
A photo of a table with people doing a craft involving making an anatomical flap manikin out of pictures of body parts and other collaging bits, such as images of plants and animals. Part of the Thackray Museum of Medicine's Anatomy Uncovered late event.
A close up detail from the same image, showing two men quarreling, one holding a scalpel.
A close up detail of the same image, showing a man in robes, representing a depiction of the ancient Graeco-Roman physician Galen. Behind him you can just about see the arms of a monkey.
A close up detail of the same image, showing a hooded monk in a praying position.
A closer view of the previous image, showing a bearded man cutting into the woman's abdomen.
A busy black and white drawing of an anatomical dissection in the 1500s. A dead woman is being cut open in a crowded theatre. A skeleton hovers above her. She is in the centre of the image, with real world lighting spotlighting her body, while the edges of the frame have a pink glow from the surrounding lights.
A stack of steaming hot chocolate chip pancakes sitting on a plate that says "Pancakes?"
A black card into which an anatomical heart illustration has been scratched, revealing flourescent rainbow colours
The poster for the Thackray Museum of Medicine's Beneath the Sheets exhibition, featuring the previous image of the man with his wrists bound above his head, on a lurid pink poster.
A nineteenth-century illustration of a man with his chest open to reveal his internal organs. His hands are bound above his head. The picture is black and white, except the heart, which is coloured pink.
A wallchart showing a diagram of the of the circulatory system.
An anatomical chart of the nervous system, showing stylised organs in white lineart on a black background, and the nerves themselves as colourful abstract lines.
A simplified diagram of the heart in red and blue on a black background.
A photo of two banners with a pink-white colour gradient hanging in front of a white wall. It is the entrance to a museum exhibition gallery. The larger banner has a quote from 18th century anatomical illustrator Arnauld Eloi Gautier d'Agoty. It says "For men to be instructed, they must be seduced by aesthetics, but how can anyone render the image of death agreeable." It is superimposed over an 18th century illustration of the muscles of the back, featuring a pronounced and well-defined gluteus maxmimus. The smaller banner is titled "Look Beneath" and contains smaller text introducing the exhibition.
A 1970s illustration of the design of a hospital ward in mint green.
An illustration of the design of a children's ward in a hospital. The lines are clean and neat. The walls are pale blue, accented with darker blue, the beds and furniture are grey with candy pink coverings. It is taken from "The Function of Colour in Factories, Schools and Hospitals" (1975) in the collection of Thackray Museum of Medicine - https://collections.thackraymuseum.co.uk/b166292
The outside wall of an upcoming exhibition at Thackray Museum of Medicine, covered in a graphic with a blushing pink ombre-style gradient. The image shows a man with his chest opened to reveal his internal organs. The relaxed glow of his face appears more post coital than post mortem, his bound wrists more bondage than dissecting table. The exhibition title reads "Beneath the Sheets: Anatomy, Art & Power".
A photo of my dad and daughter playing together with a spinning box interactive in a brightly coloured museum exhibition. All around them are examples of imaginative or futuristic pills and medication. They are smelling different 'flavours' to choose which they would want to coat their imaginary pill.
A still from the BBC adaptation of Julia Donaldson's The Highway Rat. The eponymous rodent (described by The Guardian as a "buck-toothed rat [that] looks more like a beaver") is shown holding up a rabbit (described by The Guardian as a "flirtatious rabbit ... like the makers are reliving their childhood crush on the Cadbury’s Caramel bunny") at swordpoint. The rat does not resemble a beaver but rather a well-fed rodent in Dick Turpin garb. The "flirtatious" rabbit is conservatively styled in a shapeless long dress and headscarf.
An excerpt from the Guardian list of Julia Donaldson adaptations. It reads: "Small complaint: a crab randomly turns up on a farm that's clearly inland. Sure, it's not a wildlife documentary but give us some credit. We might be merry and slumped in a carb coma but we're not daft."
A photograph of Kirkgate: the Victorian street scene at York Castle Museum. A hansom cab is shown driving by a grocer's shop. There is fake snow on the floor and a large Christmas tree lit with glowing, golden lights.
A photograph of The Guardian newspaper open to page 3. The headline reads "Body of Work: Rare anatomical drawing of a black man to go on show." The article is illustrated with that drawing: an image of a black man showing his torso opened up to show his interior organs, blood vessels coloured pink against an otherwise black and white picture. It is a story highlighting the Thackray Museum of Medicine's upcoming exhibition 'Beneath the Sheets: Anatomy, Art and Power'.
A photo showing a close up detail of a Christmas tree. Amidst the typical lights, baubles, and bells are an astronaut clutching a star to his chest, a peg doll of Frida Kahlo, a gold wooden bauble painted with bees, and a delicate paper rose in a miniature bell jar.
A photo of the 'Poo Lab' in Thackray Museum of Medicine's exhibition gallery. It is bright and colourful, with an undulating intestine of neon lights hanging from the ceiling over a splat-shaped orange table with lab-themed play activities. There are colourful test tubes, both regular size and giant.
A poster for the 2025 film adaptation of Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro. A body seen from the back has been dissected along the spine, exposing the curvature of back of the ribcage, the skin and muscle of the back folded out to give the appearance of wings. The muscles and tendons are a vivid, vibrant blood red. The image is both graceful and horrific. In keeping with the creature in the movie, the figure's neck has needle electrodes sticking into the top of the spine, and his head is wrapped in bandages. Flowers, butterflies and flames seem to emerge from the dissected cadaver. Characters and details from the film, including the ivory white coffin of Frankenstein's mother and the jet black one of his father are arranged around the central image.
A green steam train and carriage on display in the Station Hall of the National Railway Museum. A vintage poster advertises Great Western Railway's 1939 guide to 'Holiday Haunts', priced at a very reasonable sixpence.
A close up detail of a car badge, showing twin snakes wrapped around a pole.
A 1960s nursing badge from Bingley Hospital in Yorkshire. It depicts the rod of Asclepius (a snake wrapped around a staff).
A brass apothecary's weight from the 1600s. It has a simplified image of a snake coiled around a staff embossed into the surface.
A brass sestertius coin from the time of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. It depicts Salus, goddess of health and wellbeing, standing over an altar from which a snake emerges.
A photo of a green plastic box in a museum display. Labels in English and Afrikaans on top of the box say "Snake-bite Outfit / Slangteensif Uitrusting" along with the 1960s logo of the South African Institute for Medical Research. The contents of the box are displayed beside it, including a tiny clear vial labelled "Serum".
A large ceramic albarello (a concave sided historic drug jar) from 1600s Italy. It has a yellow glaze with blue and white floral and animal imagery. A label across the front says "Teriaca". A swarm of plastic toy snakes are arranged as if slithering out of and around the neck of the jar.
A black plastic toy snake curled around a small glass vial with a red "Poison' label. It is sealed inside a larger glass tube with a cork stopper. A handwritten label reads: "Snake venom (cobra)"
A museum display case containing historic artefacts from ancient Rome to 1960s South Africa, all related to the theme of snakes and medicine. Children's toy snakes in an array of colours are arranged around the case: entwined around a vial of cobra venom from India, or spilling from an apothecary jar from 1600s Italy.
A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Lucy, aged 9, from barsnley. in the olden days what did the people use to wipe there bottoms before toilet roll" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Even before toilet roll, people used paper to wipe their bums. Pages torn from books or newspapers were popular with the Victorians. Further back, Vikings used moss and natural materials, while ancient Greeks favoured broken bits of pottery. Ouch!"
A photo of a little terracotta figurine on display in a museum. It is a model of the murmillo-class gladiator whose helmet we just saw.
A gladiator's helmet in a museum display. It is an example of the heavily armed "murmillo"-class gladiator. The helmet shows an embossed depiction of the personification of Rome standing over conquered people.
A poster with people sitting at a long table enjoying a meal, surrounded by plants. The title reads "Community Table: Plants, gardens & health".
An image of microscopic gut bacteria in shades of purple. It has the title "Insights 2025/2026" over the image.
A photo of the lights hanging over the staircase at Thackray Museum of Medicine. A set of spiky balls resembling the COVID-19 viruses, each in a different rainbow colour, it is the museum's covid memorial.
A positive Covid test.
A museum display featuring three objects: a vial of blood clotting factor from the 1970s, blood sample test tubes with HIV biohazard labels, and a red, yellow and black memorial ribbon from the campaign group Tainted Blood.
A white and blue ceramic apothecary jar from the 1700s with a painted label saying "Torment", like a delftware Pandora's Box. Next to the jar, a museum label asks "What's in a jar of torment?" and answers "Torment means pain and suffering, but this medicine does the opposite. The roots of tormentil, a yellow flower related to a rose, have long been a natural cure for the torment of diarrhoea."
The Chelsea doll being played with by small hands. She is wearing a purple face mask.