VALTIO + / RAKKAUSBUSSI #2 (2015)

VALTIO+ #Rakkausbussi = Lovebuzz II = Mobile Gallery

Titanik Gallery, Turku & Kakola Prison, Turku
9 – 28 June 2015

Artist-curators: Henna Aho & Ville Laaksonen (aka Turu Väri)

Artists:
Paavo Halonen, Sándor Vály, Riiko Sakkinen, Sirkku Ketola, Matti Vainio, Konsta Ojala, Tärähtäneet Ämmät (Katriina Haikala & Vilma Metteri), and Sampsa Pirtola

Project description:

Rakkausbussi (Lovebuzz II) was a mobile gallery and public art project presented as part of Arte ry’s Valtio+ urban art initiative in Turku. Transforming a pastel-pink 1975 Volkswagen Kastenwagen into a miniature exhibition space, the project investigated how art can occupy and activate public space — literally moving the gallery into the streets.

The Rakkausbussi concept originated in 2013 as a participatory artwork, a community project in which festival visitors at Ruisrock were invited to write their declarations of love onto the vehicle’s surface. In 2015, the same bus evolved into a mobile gallery, housing nine Finnish contemporary artists whose works revolved around the theme of love — in its social, political, and poetic dimensions.

Inside the vehicle, Paavo Halonen presented an installation in the driver’s cabin, while Sándor Vály’s video work occupied the rear space. The outer surface of the bus became a canvas for Riiko Sakkinen, Sirkku Ketola, Matti Vainio, Konsta Ojala, and Tärähtäneet Ämmät, who created adhesive-based tape artworks extending into the public realm through a coordinated social media campaign. During the opening on 9 June, Sampsa Pirtola performed an unannounced intervention that blurred the line between audience and public space.

Rakkausbussi functioned as a hybrid between exhibition and social performance, a playful critique of institutional space and an act of artistic nomadism. It brought art into motion — not as an object of contemplation, but as a vehicle for connection, conversation, and affection in the urban landscape.

After its exhibition outside Titanik Gallery, the bus continued its journey toward an unknown destination — carrying with it the spirit of artistic experimentation and love as a form of movement.

As the Director of Arte ry and Titanik Gallery at the time, Ville Laaksonen oversaw the curatorial direction of the broader initiative of the Valtio+ (State+) project, which sought to reclaim public urban spaces for artistic experimentation and collective engagement.

Supported by: Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Varsinais-Suomi Regional Fund