What is happiness? What makes you feel good? How can you create happy feelings? These complex questions are the subject of a new season of free events, activities and exhibitions at London’s Wellcome Collection.

After a year of rising levels of anxiety, depression, stress and uncertainty, this new programme asks how we might rebuild our sense of happiness, while reflecting on the connections between these complex emotions, our bodies and health. It will also explore the ways in which people find resilience, hope and joy in times of hardship.

The two free exhibitions — Tranquillity and Joy — bring together voices from across the cultural, scientific and spiritual fields to explore happiness in all its forms. Tranquillity centres on feelings of contentment, serenity, peace and balance, while Joy looks at heightened emotional states such as ecstasy, euphoria and pleasure.

You’ll encounter historic objects from Wellcome’s collection, newly commissioned works and multi-sensory installations. Relax in a yoga studio created by Jasleen Kaur before scoping out new works by Amalia Pica and David Shrigley which address themes of resilience, humour and hope. For a deeper dive, plug into Wellcome’s five-part podcast series exploring how emotion affects our lives and culture in unexpected ways. After such a rollercoaster year, On Happiness is sure to put a smile on your face. Need we say more?

Known for her intensely rich and complex porcelain sculptures, to describe Rachel Kneebone’s ‘399 Days’ as her most ambitious work to date is quite an accolade. Named after the length of time it took to make, this contemporary masterpiece is over five-metres in height and comprises 63 exterior panels, balancing exquisite detail with monumental scale – a characteristic feature of the artist’s work.

Now on display in Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s 18th-century chapel, this unique setting brings the serene grandeur of Kneebone’s sculpture to life. Her work alludes the human body in intricate and often fragmented detail, often depicting limbs alongside floral and orb shapes that unravel the human experience. The towering size of 399 Days – handmade by the artist, itself a reminder of our physical strengths and capabilities – invites us to consider what it means to inhabit a body.

What makes Kneebone’s work so compelling, particularly in this space, are the imperfections and unpredictabilities that result from the firing process. ‘I am quite reassured when a work explodes because I think that means I am pushing the boundaries of the material,’ says Kneebone. ‘My work moves around metamorphosis, change and simultaneous states, so nothing about it is fixed.’ 399 Days has been widely exhibited, but its latest appearance at Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a reminder of its shifting, expansive nature.