In the port of Le Havre, the Art Explora museum ship offers free access to visitors, aiming to raise awareness about the health of the oceans. This luxurious vessel, known as the Art Explorer, is moored in the port on Thursday, October 1st, with its sails fluttering in the bright blue sky and its hull still wet from recent arrival. Some locals watch it with curiosity, while others rush to get a closer look. Xavier, in his forties, came with his son and said, "It is huge. It is rare to be able to discover ships like this and especially exhibitions that are completely free. It is always a budget for the family for artistic outings, so I take advantage of it." The Art Explora festival, organized by Frédéric Jousset, owner of Beaux Arts & Cie, is now in its second edition. Following two years of Mediterranean sailing and a first season that attracted over 400,000 visitors, the Art Explorer returns to the Eure basin with a new mission: to raise awareness about the protection of biodiversity through workshops and immersive experiences. Jousset explains that the challenge is to use salt water and the work of plastic artists to highlight the dangers facing the oceans. According to the Wings of the Ocean association, more than seven million tons of plastic waste have been dumped into the oceans since January last year. Aboard the Art Explorer, the "Song of Water" exhibition brings together about twenty artists, creating a dialogue between heritage and paleontological pieces around the protection of biodiversity and the marine depths. Blanche de Lestrange, artistic director of Art Explora, says, "The oceans are the cradle of life," and the journey invites visitors to stop and truly contemplate nature. The exhibition includes black and white silver prints by Hiroshi Sugimoto, which capture the sea and its poetic horizon, as well as the mysterious landscapes of Hicham Berrada, accompanied by the electrifying jellyfish captured in the Pacific Ridge by Max Hooper Schneider and the engravings of biologist Ernst Haeckel, loaned by the Museum of Natural History in Le Havre. On the ship, Lara Tabet Immersive creates images in collaboration with aquatic microbes, sampling in different ports throughout the journey. The Nucléotides installation by Emilija Škarnulytė allows visitors to sit at the stern of the ship and listen to the sounds of the seabed while examining microscopic underwater species. The exhibition also questions the fragility of the oceans and their ability to regenerate. In four windows of the ship, Lara Tabet's bacterial graphics, created aboard the catamaran, record the activity of a specific sea. Students Jade and Benjamin, who study merchant marine, are drawn to the mediation on these issues, saying, "We are directly confronted with waste, pollution, and the impacts of climate change in the Arctic. Being able to talk about it aboard a ship is relevant." Across the way, on the square, the awareness campaign continues. Visitors can discover virtual reality experiences, the documentary The Art of the Ocean, or the immersive work Psychosphere. Nearby, a food truck serves Breton galettes and raw cider, a shop, and a large performance stage. That evening, (La)Horde, a contemporary dance company leading the National Ballet of Marseille, performs its show To Da Bone, followed by a DJ set from the Havre collective Helios. After Le Havre, the Art Explorer will set sail towards Saint-Malo, where it will dock from October 20th to November 1st on the occasion of the Route du Rhum. Art Explora Festival - Season 2 From October 1st to 11th, 2026 Quai de Marseille and Quai du Cameroun, Eure Basin, Le Havre Free entry All programming can be found on the Art Explora website.