Creating Wellbeing

A travelling exhibition between Japan, Finland and England

What does wellbeing mean to you? People answer this question in many different ways. For some, wellbeing is found at home. For others, it comes from being outdoors in nature, or feeling part of a community. When considering this question in different places it is clear that the wider societal context has a large impact on how wellbeing is experienced.

Drawing on creative anthropological research in Japan, Finland and England, this travelling exhibition invites you into the lives of people living in very different places - from rural Kōchi Prefecture in Japan, to urban Helsinki and London. Through their images, objects, and words, learn how people create wellbeing for themselves and others.

The exhibition features an interactive artwork that grows with each place, along with workshops that invite visitors to share their experiences of wellbeing through images and words.

Exhibition information

Japan

Dates: 1-8.5.2026

Venue: Tosa no Mori Museum, Tosa-Chō, Kōchi Prefecture

Workshop: 6.5.2026

Finland

Dates: 27.6-12.7.2026

Venue: Ostasto 5, Lapinlahden Lähde, Helsinki

Workshop: 4.7.2026

England

Dates: 15.7-18.7.2026

Venue: Great Pulteney Street Gallery, Soho, London

Workshop: 18.7.2026

The research was conducted separately by anthropologists Laura Haapio-Kirk and Inge Daniels, both based at the University of Oxford. Spanning 2018 to 2026, this exhibition moves across different moments and places, as well as spanning the COVID-19 pandemic. Laura worked in rural Tosa-chō, in Shikoku, Japan, in 2018-2019, and then continued remote collaboration with some participants. She now conducts research in Finland, with fieldwork starting in 2023 and continuing today. Inge’s fieldwork began in London in 2020, requiring creative adaptations in the form of interactive participant packs as the pandemic made face-to-face meetings difficult.

Painting by Megumi Ito

What can we learn from each other?

Rather than reducing the complexities of each field site into clear comparisons or a single narrative, the exhibition places them alongside one another. Seen together, these fragments invite reflection on the similarities and differences across borders in the common effort to maintain wellbeing. The findings in each fieldsite are not fixed or comparable as better or worse. Instead, they offer different ways of understanding what it means to live well, and what we might learn from one another.

The research in Japan, Finland, and England, presents a common theme: wellbeing is deeply impacted by relationships among communities and by the environments that people inhabit. An anthropological approach shows us that approaches towards wellbeing change with place, region, and even person. That’s why it is important to spend time with people to see what really makes a difference in their lives in different places. We thank all research participants for sharing their thoughts and creativity with us.

Collaborators

Laura Haapio-Kirk

Laura Haapio-Kirk, Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church, University of Oxford, has conducted research in Japan since 2018. Since 2023 she has continued her research in Finland, using artistic approaches to understand how people in later life sustain wellbeing. She is working on a graphic book that will tell the stories emerging from her research through a mix of text, drawings, paintings, and collage.

Instagram: @LAURALHK

Inge Daniels

Inge Daniels, Professor of Anthropology at the Univeristy of Oxford, led the multi-sited research project Disobedient Buildings, exploring housing, welfare, and wellbeing through the everyday lives of residents in ageing European tower blocks. Her fieldwork in London highlights how care and wellbeing are shaped both within the home and through wider welfare structures. She developed an innovative method using activity packs to invite participants to take photos, collect materials, write, and draw.

www.disobedientbuildings.com

Instagram: @DISOBEDIENTBUILDINGS

Megumi Ito

Megumi Ito studied traditional Japanese painting at Musashino Art University. She continues to be inspired by Japanese craftsmanship, and paints using traditional materials such as washi paper, handmade brushes, and natural pigments and glue to make her paintings. Some of the pigments are the same ones that she used 25 years ago when starting out on her artistic journey, and are derived from naturally occuring material such as oyster shells and minerals.

Instagram: @MEGUMIITO

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