If it is a more niche trip to London that you are hankering for and you feel you would sooner jump in the Thames than visit Buckingham Palace, there are many options for you. The inconspicuous underground scene in London is outstanding and there is truly something for everyone whether it be a candle-lit pub with a sordid history or a circus-themed restaurant – it just takes a little extra curiosity and research to find it. In the case of Viktor Wynd’s Museum of Curiosities, this is not just a muesum. It has many facets that reveal themselves to you upon entry, where the friendly staff serve you meticulously prepared cocktails and inform you optimistically about the secret room downstairs.
The dimly-lit bar is the first room you walk into and is very quirky from the offset; a fish tank, animal bones, A LOT of taxidermy and things in jars capture your intrigue as you ponder the surreal artwork and various bottles of alcoholic spirits that are lined up among the paraphernalia behind the bar.
The bar staff wait on you at your table, seeming very personable and open to conversation; something which is extremely necessary in a place with many conversation starters.
A typical visit here, as initiated above, involves walking through the door, gasping in wonder (or shock) then being greeted by the bar staff who allocate you a seat as best they can depending on the time of day. You then choose your desired drink from the menu which is subsequently brought over in a friendly manner. You then joyfully sip your delicious drink and chatter and marvel over the aray of curiosities that you can see in front, above and all around you. After viewing the multitudinous curious objects in and around the bar area, it is time to move downstairs to see the museum if you so wish.
Suffice it to say there are not many museums quite like this. There are some graphic scenes of erotica and examples of taxidermy in theatrical and even humiliating positions – this is not something for the faint-hearted but is fundamentally art to many people. It is not your average picture postcard scene of course so be careful of visiting Viktor Wynd’s Museum of Curiosities if you are a particularly sensitive or sqeamish person.
It is a very small museum, past a fish tank and down a claustrophobic set of spiralling stair. It feels as though you are descending into something completely unknown. Which ogf course, you are, particularly if you have consumed a cocktail or two.
Viktor Wynd is an artist and intellectual with a penchant for the unimaginable and, in many ways, unwanted or undesirable. He firmly established himself in London’s bohemian underground scene with his running of The Last Tuesday Society which is the organisation responsible for the Cabinet of Curiosities and a kaleidoscope of social events where basically anything goes.
There are jars filled with ’emotions’ such as pure ecstasy and Mother’s love. MORE animal bones and non-descript things behind bars and in cages. Lurking in the dinginess of the museum are deformed creatures, odd looking mannequins, plenty of surreal art and jars of bodily fluids and other bits (I could not think of a better way to phrase that!) that supposedly belong to celebrities.
You wander around, slghtly woozy from the alcohol and have literally no clue what you might see next. A unique experience is what you can expect here, but not so unique that you can not expect to find more things of this ilk in the dark depths of the United Kingdom’s Capital City. Taxidermy, mannequins that seem to follow your gaze and … do inhabit London – there are plenty more caverns of mystery in the crevices and fractures of this city if hunted for.
It is just waiting to be discovered.
I shall not give anything more away should you want to visit yourself -but this establishment is well worth a visit if you find yourself in the Hackney area and are partial to the weird, wonderful and downright horrifying.
I recommend you book to go to the Museum of Curiosities ahead of time if you are planning to go on a busy day or time such as a Saturday. It is only a small bar and gets full very quickly – the museum is actually a first come, first served basis and there is an £8 fee. They specialise in delicious cocktails but do expect to pay a little bit more due to the nature of the place and the pleasant service you receive.
Would you want to privately hire such a place for your own party? Well, you can! You can privately hire the venue for events and they even have exhibitions on from time to time. I would love to know what those would entail!
Viktor Wynd’s Museum of Curiosities is situated on Mare Street in Hackney with the closest tube station being Bethnal Green on the Central Line.
I hope you have an exaggeratedly intriguing visit!
