Step Exhibitions
Hellesdon Hospital Project – Hospital Rooms
Nominee Information
Hospital Rooms’ Hellesdon project is our most ambitious to date, commissioning 15 major artworks by internationally acclaimed artists in and around the newly built Rivers Centre at Hellesdon Hospital. These works were co-produced with service users, staff, carers and community members through more than 70 creative workshops, ensuring they are deeply rooted in the lived experience of those who use the spaces every day.
The scale, ambition and calibre of the artworks set this project apart. Mark Titchner, a Turner Prize nominee, created a monumental text work installed on the external façade of the new building, stating “Like There is Hope and I Can Dream of Another World”, a phrase generated through conversations with people who have lived experience of inpatient care. The work stands as a beacon of hope and possibility — a message not only for those inside the hospital, but for those visiting the hospital site.
Jade de Montserrat developed an immersive mural spanning the ceiling and walls of a communal space, embedding imagery created in workshops directly into her vast, gestural painting. Jade’s practice — rooted in care, materiality and environmental connection — brought a sense of expansiveness to a space that might otherwise feel confined.
Heather Phillipson, whose work has been shown at Tate Britain and who was also nominated for the Turner Prize, brought her playful yet provocative approach to a communal outdoor space (and one of the first parts of the hospital site when entering), using bold colour, surreal imagery and unexpected materials to disrupt the clinical atmosphere and invite imaginative thinking.
Michael Landy CBE, one of the YBAs (Young British Artists) renowned for his subversive practice, created a series of artworks that inject humour, humanity and personality into the everyday act of moving through the building. His playful interventions challenge the cold, institutional feel of traditional hospital signage and instead offer moments of surprise and reflection.
Outdoor works play a vital role in the project (a first for Hospital Rooms). Shepherd Manyika’s sculptures around the grounds encourage people to engage with the hospital’s green spaces, creating opportunities for movement, discovery and connection with the natural environment.
Dolly Sen created a sculptural signage piece that subverts the language of institutional wayfinding, replacing conventional directional signs with poetic, humorous and sometimes provocative phrases that softens the language of the environment, making space for imagination, empathy and care.
What unites these diverse works is their ability to transform how people experience the hospital environment — offering opportunities for creative expression, moments of joy, and a sense of dignity and value. This project should win because it demonstrates how contemporary art can radically reimagine clinical spaces, not as places of confinement, but as creative, human-centred environments that foster connection, expression and care.
