A long-prepared, one-of-a-kind artistic adventure will set off on a journey across Europe in the week following Easter.
The E75 Art Bus, travelling from Crete’s Sitia all the way north to Vardø in Norway, will depart from front of Oulu City Hall on Thursday morning, 9 April at 9am. This Oulu2026 project, jointly produced by the Artists’ Association MUU and the cultural magazine Kaltio, will stop in around twenty European cities along the E75 route over six weeks, spreading the message of cultural climate change along the eastern edge of the EU.
The first stop of the journey takes place on Friday, 10 April at Cable Factory in Helsinki. The departure festival begins with a seminar in the Puristamo Hall (2pm–4.30pm) exploring the role of art as a tool of democracy. Speakers include artists, experts in peace education and accessibility in the arts, the Ambassador of Taiwan to Finland, as well as the CEOs of the Oulu Culture Foundation and Cable Factory. At 5pm, the E75 Art Bus exhibition opens at MUU Helsinki Contemporary Art Centre, featuring works by project artist Timjune as well as audiovisuals from partner cities. The evening culminates in a concert by the band Oulun_Keskusta at Restaurant Hima&Sali.
The traveling arts festival is visiting Oulu in May
When returning from the south, the E75 Art Bus will stop in Oulu on Wednesday, 13 May, and the audience is invited to the Tukikohta in Välivainio (Sorvarintie 5) to experience artistic “souvenirs” from across Europe, along with workshops and performances by the artists. The event begins at 5pm. Earlier in the day, from noon to 3pm, visitors can participate in Eeva-Liisa Puhakka’s multisensory workshop Currents of Smell and Signal and explore Yu-Hsuan Yao’s AI character Magnus at Art Hub Pikisaari (Pikisaarentie 8).
The E75 Art Bus is a mobile multidisciplinary art festival. At its core is a group of nine artists who join the journey along the route, creating performances, exhibitions, installations, workshops, and discussions in 20 cities and villages together with local communities.
Among them are a dancer who reminds us that folk dance can be a form of resistance; a ceramic artist who collects people’s sorrows across Europe to release them into the Arctic Ocean; a disability activist who creates kites for freedom of movement; and a media artist researching migration who invites audiences to sing with birds.
The artworks and discussions address themes of democracy, the climate crisis, diversity, and community. The E75 Art Bus travels along Europe’s eastern edge at a time when connecting, mobility, and hope are needed more than ever. It links not only the Arctic and the Mediterranean, but also people, cultures, and perspectives.
Join us to experience the nightless spring of the Arctic
A limited number of exclusive audience tickets are also available for the E75 Art Bus journey. Participants can join for the full route or for shorter segments. Audiences in Northern Finland may be particularly interested in the project’s culminating five-night journey to Vardø on the Arctic coast, where the End of the Road Festival will be celebrated on the eve of Norway’s National Day, 16 May. The bus departs from Oulu for this final stage on Ascension Day morning, 14 May, and returns on Tuesday, 19 May.
If art and travel are close to your heart, you can buy tickets to join the E75 Art Bus on the TE-Matkat website:
https://tematkat.fi/e75-art-bus
Passengers will not only attend E75 Art Bus events but also visit exhibitions, sites, and programmes organised by local partners along the way.
Travel calendar:
https://www.muu.fi/fi/e75-taidebussi/e75-kalenteri/
More information about the E75 Art Bus and its artists:
https://www.muu.fi/e75-art-bus/
Departure event programme at Kaapelitehdas (in English):
https://muu.fi/site/assets/files/5057/e75-art-bus-goes-helsinki_100426_eng.pdf
The E75 Art Bus is part of the official Oulu2026 program and funded by the Oulu Culture Foundation. The Oulu event on 13 May is also supported by a cultural grant from the City of Oulu.
