On the Art of Teeth
Barts Pathology Museum
This atmospheric candle lit installation at Barts Pathology Museum by artist Janetka Platun was a collaboration with Dr David Mills, a researcher at Queen Mary University of London. The work included new film and sculpture that responded to the Museum’s own historic collection of tooth specimens dating back to the 19th century. These 24 specimens and their accompanying index cards, that form the ‘Diseases of Teeth’ collection, provide an insight into the range of problems faced by patients, and the (often brutal) history of dentistry in England.
The installation provided a rare opportunity to visit Barts Pathology Museum in London, a specialist university medical museum that is not normally open to the public. Due to a special arrangement with the museum, the installation was open 3.30pm – 7.30pm, 3rd – 6th December 2025, and the candles were ceremonially lit by the artist at 4pm each day. Tickets were free of charge but could be pre-booked in advance via the Museum’s EventBrite. We were delighted to welcome 561 visitors during the 16 hours the exhibition was open to the public (excluding launch event).
The film and sculptural artworks in the installation were based on thousands of microtomography scans of the historic tooth specimens produced by Dr David Mills. The installation explored the inner world of teeth as sites of memory, loss and survival. The installation was commissioned and funded by the Centre for Creative Collaboration at Queen Mary University of London, with additional funding from Arts Council England. As Project Producer Suzanne supported the final stages of project planning and delivery, including production of an accompanying booklet, co-ordination of the launch event, press and marketing, liaision with Barts Pathology Museum, organising security cover and overseeing a group of four undergraduate History students on placement with the project.
About the artist
Janetka Platun’s artistic practice incorporates sculpture, film and installation. Her art is shaped by phenomenological ideas, posing questions about our existential relationship to our surroundings. These reveal deeper meanings of home, belonging and loss. Her work attends to the inter-relational complexities of people, place, time, memory and desire.
Janetka studied sculpture at Camberwell and was an Artist Fellow at Queen Mary University of London. She has exhibited extensively and received awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, British Council, Leverhulme Trust and Arts Council England. Recent projects include There were people a public art commission commemorating the Polish Resettlement Camp in Hiltingbury (2025) and Medius a public art commission, that made connections between Europe and Cambridge (2023).
Her trans-disciplinary projects with scholars and communities include; Globe (2016- 2020), Fertig (2017) and Slack Tide (2024). The artworks created have been shown at The Royal Geographical Society; O.P. Jindal Global University, India; Trento University, Italy; The National Maritime Museum; the Museum of Home; The V&A Museum of Childhood; the Science Museum and Tate Exchange.