One of the UK’s most valuable design exports, Yinka Ilori, recently completed a colourful courtyard activation at the popular Amos Rex museum in Helsinki.

The British-Nigerian artist and designer has taken on the unusual Seussian mounds in the gallery’s Lasipalatsi Square, transforming the space into an interactive community playground, with a ping pong table, basketball court and trail for walking, running or skateboarding. His signature  Ododo floral pattern adorns the surface of the plaza and creates a bold contrast to the white-washed Modernist main building.

Ilori has named the intervention Transparent Happiness, playing on the Finns’ reputation as the world’s happiest people. He says the installation poses the question, ‘What does happiness truly mean, and for whom is it in today’s society?’

The work is rooted in the tension between Finland’s global image and the less-visible experiences of racism in the country, where not all residents feel free to express joy in public. ‘True, unbridled expressions of joy are more often experienced or displayed in the comfort of one’s own home,’ says Ilori, ‘in churches or safe, privatised places, rather than in public where we may be more conscious of judgment and ridicule. My idea for this courtyard installation was to put these expressions on display, rather than keep them in hiding.’

The installation is free and open to all until 12 October 2025.

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