On display now until 18th June 2026
public open times: Thursday - Sunday, 10.30am - 5pm (admission fees apply)
New body of work highlighting the shared histories of photography and medicine at the Old Operating Theatre. Blood of My Blood is a multi-faceted project that investigates the link between personal narratives and scientific advancement through a photographic lens. Kuca’s solo exhibition blends in with the surroundings at the former site of both herbal apothecary and early surgical procedures.
At the core of the project lies the artist’s response to her mother’s cancer journey. Applying a camera-less form of experimental photography to capture their embracing bodies, Kuca expresses shared vulnerability while echoing the effects of chemotherapy with the marks and traces left on the resulting image.
The artist’s gum bichromate prints of ancestral photographs traditionally placed on graves rely on carcinogenic components, reproduced in blood red ink they act as a reminder of cancer running in the family.
For a series of wet collodion portraits captured on glass, and limbs on surgery-grade steel, Kuca allows the unvarnished surfaces to decompose and tarnish, repairing deliberate fractures with silver. Still lifes of plague doctor masks provide a link to the healing herbs grown in the museum’s attic.
The contemporary works are displayed in cabinets alongside the museum’s main collection. Reminiscent of vintage medical journals, they evoke a sense of nostalgia while highlighting subsequent progress in overcoming physical injury and infectious disease.
The surgeries at the Old Operating Theatre were performed on women without anaesthetics or antiseptics, in front of a live audience of predominantly male medical students. Magda Kuca’s work serves as a reminder of the personal stories behind medical innovation. Blood of My Blood is complemented by a group exhibition at the Anaesthesia Museum which explores the relationship between anaesthesia, art and the experience of pain. “Between Feeling and Unfeeling” is open now until April 2027.
RSVP To Private View at The Old Operating Theatre 28th May 2026
Due to limited capacity of this historic attic there is a strict limit of attendees and rsvp is essential.
Artist talk & surgery talk wil take place during private view.
The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret is one of London's most remarkable surviving medical heritage sites, offering a rare insight into the practice of healthcare before the advent of modern surgery and anaesthesia.
The Museum is housed within the roof space of St Thomas' Church, which opened in 1703 and remains the oldest surviving structure from St Thomas' Hospital's original Southwark site. During the eighteenth century, this attic space was used as the hospital's herb garret.
In 1822, the space was adapted to meet the growing demands of hospital care and was converted into a women's operating theatre, directly connected to the neighbouring Dorcas Ward. Surgical procedures were carried out here in full view of medical students.
The church roof space was vacated in 1862 and boarded up until being rediscovered in 1956. Since 1962, it has operated as an independent museum.
Today, the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret continues to explore the history of surgery, medicine, and healthcare through its collections, exhibitions, and education programmes.
Project was supported by Centre for British Photography Realisation Grant