Enchanted Forest

by the Apart We Shall Perish collective
A Project with plant nursery at the Turku Botanical Garden to create therapeutic microforest for TYKS Compass Hospital, Turku, Finland
www.apartweshallperish.org
2024–

Funded by the Kone Foundation, Metsän puolella grant 2024–2028

Follow the project on Instagram @apartweshallperish or visit www.apartweshallperish.org.

Lumottu metsä (Enchanted Forest) is an innovative project centred on the design and realisation of a microforest within the courtyard of the Tyks Compass Hospital (completion in 2028). Conceived as one of the hospital’s 15 sensory environments, it forms part of its psychiatric care context. The project is grounded in the idea of cultivating an urban forest by drawing on the ecological communities of old-growth forests in Southwest Finland, with particular attention to forest floor microbiomes. In this context, care takes on a new dimension, emphasising reciprocity between humans and the more-than-human environment.

The project unfolds through several interlinked components: the Lumottu metsä microforest; a 700 m² plant nursery and design area that enables hands-on engagement with soil and embodied thinking; an integrated research and participatory programme; and study trips undertaken by the working group.

The project continues the work of artists Nina Rantala and Visa Suonpää in France in 2023, where they developed a concept for a green space based on soil microbiomes and the forest floor. In Finland, they began actively exploring possibilities to realise the project in practice.

The Apart We Shall Perish team includes microbial community ecologist Mika Saarenpää (University of Helsinki), plant ecologist Sari Stark (University of Lapland), and horticulturists David Stokes and Juha Ujula. The project is led by artists Nina Rantala and Visa Suonpää.

We are also supported by a broad network of advisors and collaborators.