"The repurposed technicolour interlocking basketball floor tiles meet the words ‘HAPPY’ rising up on boards around the perimeter.

"Echoing Maya Angelou’s “Just as hope rings through laughter…’, the work explores the importance of laughter in establishing social bonds, its contagious quality leading to happiness - a fundamental sign of openness, safety and humanity. 

"HA HA HAPPY coalesces Lakwena’s work relating to basketball courts, the rural landscape and large-scale urban interventions.

"The artist is internationally renowned for her work in public spaces across the world, from installations at the Artist’s Garden, Tate Britain, Somerset House, to a juvenile detention centre in Arkansas, a monastery in Vienna and the Bowery Wall in New York City.

"Opened in 1927 as a public park, Happy Mount Park was created during Morecambe’s growth as a popular seaside resort, its character drawing on the tradition of late Victorian and Edwardian municipal parks.

"The park takes its name from the area at the eastern end of Morecambe’s promenade known as Happy Mount, a naturally elevated point that offered sweeping views across the vast sands of Morecambe Bay towards the Lakeland fells.

"These uplifting vistas continue to delight visitors today, connecting generations with the beauty of the renowned Bay.

"Today, Happy Mount Park is a place where memories are made by thousands of local families, day-trippers and holidaymakers.

"Visitors come to explore everything the park has to offer, from the much-loved miniature train to a range of spaces designed for intergenerational play and enjoyment.

"Entranced by the innate joyfulness of both name and place, Lakwena was inspired to encapsulate the happiness of our experiences past and present in civic parks.

"Her intervention HA HA HAPPY is a bold technicolour public art work that signals a creative leap forward for this treasured open-air space.

"SHIP has been warmly received by regular walkers and visitors to Half Moon Bay, with audiences responding to the personal significance of the two figures and the boat, positioned amid the ever changing seascape of the Bay, its weather and its tides.

"HA HA HAPPY is a utopian, joyful intervention into public space with the serious intent of contemplating connection, commonality and the liberating power of laughter."

Lauren Zawadzki of Deco Publique said, “We’re delighted to present Lakwena’s work in Morecambe, where the scale and atmosphere of the Bay continues to inspire artists.

"Through the Coastal Commissioning Programme, we’ve invited artists to spend time with the Bay, to respond to its social, environmental and cultural landscape, and to create work that is both locally rooted and internationally resonant. Lakwena’s HA HA HAPPY is a joyful, generous expression of that dialogue, attuned to the social life of public space."

Claire Mander of theCOLAB said: “HA HA HAPPY is a joyful collaboration of epic proportions, which characterises the collaboration between theCOLAB and Deco Publique to realise Coastal Commissions for Morecambe Bay.

"Lakwena has, once again, reinvigorated an expanse of public space which focuses on the importance of laughing, loudly, in the open air, together. 

"The creation of this new permanent landmark for Morecambe attests to the generosity of our partners across the country enabling the transposition of materials from her commission at the Artist’s Garden, London in 2021 to Happy Mount Park in Morecambe in 2026."

Lancaster City Council have also collaborated on the project, which was first shown in London before finding a permanent home in Morecambe, and funding has come from the government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Councillor Martin Bottoms, Cabinet Member for Morecambe Regeneration and Local Economy at park owners Lancaster City Council, said: “Happy Mount Park is a much‑loved community space where people come together to relax, play and spend time with family and friends.

"This new addition builds on that heritage, offering something that will spark curiosity and conversation for everyone who visits.”

A spokesperson for Basketball England said: “We're excited about the launch of the 'HA HA HAPPY' art court in Morecambe - the first of 2026 and just in time for the outdoor basketball season. 

"The unique project saw a wealth of partners come together to realise Lakwena Maciver's vision, transforming a tired public basketball court into a piece of art set in an iconic community park. 

"Basketball England has supported the project with technical guidance throughout and funding the upgrades to the basketball equipment, because we know that renovated courts become safe spaces for people of all ages to enjoy basketball, bond and be fit and active.

"Through our court regeneration campaign - #ProjectSwish - we continue to work with councils, clubs, artists, funders, individuals and commercial organisations to invest and upgrade in outdoor basketball courts across England.”

Lakwena Maciver said: “The name Happy Mount was what drew me to this project.

Lakwena Mciver. Photo credit: Danika Magdelena

"When I heard it, it made me think of heaven, and I wonder if that’s what the people who named it were thinking of too.

"Either way I’m so grateful for the many beautiful parks including this one that are part of our shared heritage, and I’m very grateful to have been invited to create an artwork for this one.

"I hope it brings people together, I hope people have fun playing here, and I hope it adds to this little glimpse of heaven here on Happy Mount."