Sensory Rooms

Art in sensory rooms as part of psychiatric care
Concept, curation, and coordination: Nina Rantala
Pilot project
TYKS Compass Hospital, Turku, Finland
In collaboration with the Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland 

and the Turku Mental Health Association
2024–2026

Funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation

This artist-initiated project situates art within the sensory environments of psychiatric care. Developed for the sensory rooms at TYKS Compass Hospital, the works engage with a non-pharmacological mode of treatment in which sensory modulation shapes a patient’s experience. Within this context, art operates as a perceptual practice, activating and attuning the sensory field.

TYKS Compass Hospital is unique globally, with a sensory room in every ward, expanding to a total of 14 by 2028.

Rantala has been part of the TYKS Compass Hospital sensory room team as an invited artist since 2023. She developed the concept through her work within the team, and curated the project, inviting the other artists to participate. Other artists include Hanna Dufva, Juha van Ingen, Jani Ikonen, Marjut Uotila and Minka Salmirinne, who also served as the project’s coordinator for experts by experience.

The project is defined by its process-oriented approach. Artists worked in close dialogue with healthcare staff and engaged with the patient care pathway, while workshops with experts by experience informed the development of the works, particularly in relation to altered states such as psychosis. A temporary on-site exhibition enabled staff to encounter and test the works, contributing to an iterative process of feedback and refinement.

The resulting body of work comprises participatory, three-dimensional, and video-based pieces, activated within the sensory rooms through existing audiovisual infrastructures. The works are stored within a dedicated cabinet and brought into use as needed, allowing for a flexible and responsive engagement. A manual accompanies the works, outlining their use, maintenance, and contextual application.