E75 European Art Bus Departs, Freddy Lim Hopes Art Deeply Connects Souls

The forum, organized by the Finnish Artists' Association (MUU ry), titled "E75 Art Bus Goes Helsinki Festival," debuted on the 10th at the Cable Factory in Helsinki. The bus officially departed yesterday, embarking on a six-week journey spanning northern and southern Europe.

Freddy Lim, speaking at the opening of the "Art as a Tool for Peace" seminar in his capacity as lead singer of Chthonic, former legislator, and current diplomat, stated that it is difficult to persuade people of different stances to support a single cause. However, a video, a song, or a piece of art can deeply move people with diverse ideas. He remarked, "Art is not just a bridge for dialogue between people; art is truly a force that deeply connects souls."

The art bus will host exhibitions, workshops, performances, and seminars at over 20 stops along its route. Activities will also be live-streamed simultaneously from the bus and each location. The organizers have also made a limited number of tickets available, allowing art enthusiasts to join this journey across Europe.

Timo Soppela, director of the MUU association, told CNA in an interview that the art bus is not the first project to use transportation for art travel; artists have previously traveled by train and boat. However, the scale of E75 is unprecedented. He pointed out that the core of the project is not just artists taking their works on the road, but more importantly, collaborating with local artists along the way and genuinely involving local audiences. "We are not just going to display our works; we are going to work together."

Soppela added that each stop has different partners and venues, ranging from art institutions to outdoor spaces, from small galleries to festival sites, in various forms. He hopes this journey will lay the foundation for future international cooperation: "This is not a one-off event; the overall network we are building aims to enable artists to continue finding possibilities for collaboration in their professional fields in the future."

He also admitted that he is part of this experiment: "I am learning here how to get along and cooperate with a large group of people for a long time, accepting all the beautiful things on the journey, and also accepting misunderstandings and small accidents. This is also personal growth for me."

The departure festival also marked the opening of the E75 Art Bus exhibition. Taiwanese installation artist Yu-Hsuan Yao is one of the selected artists, and her work will tour Europe with the bus. Last year, she went to Poland for a two-month artist residency. According to the plan, artists reside in countries along the route before hitting the road, allowing their works to take root locally.

The E75 Art Bus is one of the key projects of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture annual program, co-organized by MUU and the cultural magazine "Kaltio." The tour is expected to conclude on May 16 in Arctic Norway with the "End of the Road" music festival.

E75 is a European highway stretching 5,639 kilometers from Vardø, a city in northern Norway, to Crete, Greece, passing through countries such as Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Serbia. (Edited by Wei Shu) 1150412