MK Gallery Sensory Tour Project & Training Day

In October 2025, Camphill MK was asked to collaborate with MK Gallery as part of the MK Gallery’s Sensory Tour Project. The project spanned four weeks, and the residents also participated in an additional training day. From the Craft Workshop, Liam, Anna, Vicky, Lee, Mustafa and Stuart expressed interest in joining the project. This was their second time being invited. The residents were supported by Craft Workshop Support Workers, Roanna and Tarandeep.

The sensory project was part of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s exhibition, To Improvise a Mountain. The group was welcomed back by sensory artist Julia and support artist Robin. During the first session, the residents spent a considerable amount of time in the exhibition. They all explored the exhibition, choosing their favourite pieces of art which resonated with them. Each individual had a chance to explain why they chose their particular piece and what stood out most to them. Following this, the group worked together to try to brainstorm how each of their chosen pieces could be explained and portrayed through the 5 senses. This helped artist Julia to think of what each individual could use to put in their sensory box. All the participants created a drawing using charcoal, ripping the edges of their paper to represent the style and the way Boakye works. These drawings were then placed on the front of each sensory box.

During the second session, residents were presented with a range of items they could use in their boxes. Anna’s chosen piece of art showed a ploughing field with several birds flying. She wanted to include a piece of work that could allow others to feel and touch what the ground in this picture would feel like. For this, Anna sewed on beads onto a ribbed piece of fabric, which was then sewn together around a cushion to make it feel like seeds in the earth. She then added different scents to make it smell more earthy.

Similarly, Vicky chose a painting of a meadow with lots of plants and trees. She wanted to represent this through stitching, as she enjoys this very much in her arts & crafts workshop. She did this by sewing wooden and crocheted flowers onto hessian.

Stuart and Mustafa both chose two different videos that were played in the exhibition. Stuart had chosen a musical video in relation to his love of music. However, he found the video very unusual, as the people shown had very odd metallic nail polish colours. Artist Julia brought in nail polishes and a small LED light. Stuart focused on this and created nail swatches for his sensory box.

Mustafa had chosen a video which showed cowboys riding around. Due to Mustafa’s sight, he could only go by the audio. Mustafa noticed that there was no sound of horses and wanted to include this as part of his box. Artist Julia had created some sounds which could be placed in Mustafa’s box.

Lee chose a painting of a woman with ruffly feathers and red lipstick. Julia was able to get lip swatches on mirrors, and Lee created a mobile-like prop which had lots of different laces and feathers people could touch.

Liam had chosen a painting of a woman smoking and holding a peculiar black-and-blue cat. For this, Liam had a box with a front door that opened to the other objects inside. Liam painted the door on his box to look like the one in his chosen painting.

The group was also invited to participate in a training day, during which they presented their sensory boxes to a wider audience. This included staff, volunteers from MK Gallery, and external representatives from other galleries, including the Tate, who were attending the training to learn how to use the kit.

Each resident was given their own table and presented their sensory box through a speed‑date‑style system. During these short sessions, participants explained what the objects in their box were and why they had chosen them. This provided staff with valuable insight into how they could better support visitors with additional needs when using the kit in the gallery.

The boxes contained a range of objects designed to engage different senses — including items to feel, touch, smell, and even hear.

The residents were very pleased with the overall outcome and hope that their sensory boxes will go on to support others visiting the exhibition.

The exhibition runs until 25th January. To Improvise A Mountain: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Curates – MK Gallery.