Tranquillity

On Happiness is a season of events and activities at the Wellcome Collection, including two large-scale exhibitions – Joy and Tranquillity. These two exhibitions celebrate the complexity of positive emotions and invite you to explore the big questions. From serenity to ecstasy, contentment to awe, happiness encompasses many different positive feelings. What it means to be happy has preoccupied thinkers throughout history.

Alongside historical artefacts, both exhibitions contain contemporary artist commissions - including Chrystel Lebas’s immersive installation Regarding Forests. This photographic display which forms a sizeable-part of the Tranquillity exhibition, contains scent and sound in a multi-sensory tribute to forest bathing.

For centuries, people have made pilgrimages to places of natural wonder to restore the spirit. Translating the sublime power of ancient forests to the gallery, Lebas’s installation creates a sense of awe, and reminds us of our reliance on the natural world. The installation is complemented with a bespoke scent designed by AVM Curiosities in collaboration with CPL Aromas that evokes the smell of the forest floor after it has rained.

Tranquility & Regarding Forests | Chrystel Lebas
Olfactory curation by AVM Curiosities
Wellcome Collection | London
15 July 2021 - 9 January 2022

Regarding Forests | Chrystel Lebas
Thackray Museum of Medicine | Leeds
23 April - 17 July 2022

Regarding Forests | Chrystel Lebas
The Point | Doncaster
27 July – 29 October 2022