Does art only belong in galleries?
When we talk about public transport the tone of voice is usually negative: the trams are late and metro doesn’t run late enough. When Helsinki’s public transportation (HKL) wanted to celebrate their 70th anniversary with something new and unique we – Måndag, HelCre collective and HKL created the concept of Taidelinja – the Artline. In 2015, we transformed trams, tram stops, metro trains and metro stations to art galleries, theatre stages and music venues. Taidelinja might be the most participatory project ever in Helsinki. Through an open call, we invited everyone to build Taidelinja with us. Taidelinja succeeded to inspire people: we got dozens of applications ranging from professional artist to first-timers, from visual arts to performances, from day care groups to pensioners. Taidelinja’s events take place all over the city. It was important to create a strong identity that binds all the events together. We created a fresh and approachable design which is seamlessly aligned with the Helsinki City Transport’s visual identity.