Yinka Ilori: Transparent Happiness

Amos Rex is excited to announce that internationally acclaimed British-Nigerian artist and designer Yinka Ilori MBE has designed a new commission on the iconic Lasipalatsi Squarenin, which is one of the most popular urban spaces in Helsinki, Finland. The commission—titled Transparent Happiness—is the first in an annual series that will bring a range of artistic talent to the space in the coming years.  

Launched on June 20, 2025, Yinka Ilori’s large-scale public installation, transforms the Amos Rex art museum’s iconic mounds into a participatory and functional artwork, inviting visitors to play and interact with the public realm in new ways.  

“I’m thrilled to present my latest installation, Transparent Happiness in partnership with Amos Rex—an institution which continues to celebrate culture and uplift artists, like myself”, says Ilori.  

“My intention in bringing this artwork to the iconic Lasipalatsi courtyard is for it to be an optimistic space for play and imagination, and reflective of my belief that public art should be accessible and joyful for all. I'm excited for local communities in and visitors to Helsinki to be immersed in the installation, and I hope it encourages new connections”.  

Amos Rex’s mission is to work with its unique urban setting and invite artists from many disciplines to activate its public spaces. The project is part of a new, annual summer season of commissions, events and interventions. Animating the Lasipalatsi courtyard with new kinds of activity and invitation is a core mission of Amos Rex, says Museum Director Kieran Long.  

“We are truly honoured to host the first public realm project by Yinka in northern Europe, and it has been inspiring to work with him as he reinterpreted the iconic Amos Rex mounds. Yinka’s work is joyful and beautiful, but it is also a question posed about what a public space could and should be. Which identities are welcome in the efficient, well-maintained Nordic public realm? Who is surreptitiously excluded?”. 

In spirited opposition to the minimalist and austere language of the museum’s Modernist architecture, Ilori’s installation, which will include a playground, pedestrian and skateboarding trail, basketball court, and ping pong table, underscores the importance of art’s capacity to catalyse joy and community.  

Inspired by Nigerian parables, verbal traditions, and the memories Ilori associated with the London playgrounds that he grew up playing on, Transparent Happiness invites the public to connect through not only play but through sharing memories, stories, and anecdotes that emerge through their (re)connection with childhood and spaces of play.  

Transparent Happiness, which will be on view through fall of 2025, is the newest work resulting from Ilori’s prodigious practice, having mounted installations/exhibitions at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), The Design Museum (London), Kings Hill (Kent), V&A Dundee, Soho Farmhouse (Oxfordshire), and Cannes Film Festival, and designed for clients including Apple, Nike, The North Face, and Beats by Dre.  

Yinka Ilori MBE (b. 1987) is a London-based multi-disciplinary artist and designer known for his use of bold colours and patterns, often inspired by his Nigerian heritage. Ilori’s practice is built on an imperative to make art and design optimistic, accessible, and interactive. 

Yinka Ilori: Transparent Happiness at Amos Rex, Helsinki, June 20–October 12, 2025.