A new exhibition focusing on artists and the ocean opens next week in Dubrovnik and Lopud. Meet OCEANS. Imagining a Tidalectic Worldview.
OCEANS. Imagining a Tidalectic Worldview features seventeen artists whose distinctive works cast oceanic perspectives on the cultural, political and biological dimensions of the oceans, examining the effects of human-made issues such as climate change and sea-level rise while reimagining human and “beyond human” relationships. Organized by TBA21-Academy and presented in two parts, OCEANS will be launched by Mato Franković, the Mayor of Dubrovnik, at the Museum of Modern Art in Dubrovnik at 20:00 on July 4, 2018, and by Nina Obuljen Koržinek, the Minister of Culture at the newly restored Monastery of Our Lady of the Cave on the island of Lopud on July 6, 2018.
OCEANS will be activated by the symposium “Return to the Sea”, drawing upon the interdisciplinary field research, knowledge production, and advocacy that TBA21–Academy has generated with artists, scientists, policy makers, and frontline leadership from climate change hotspots from around the world since its founding in 2011.
“The issues facing the oceans may seem incomprehensible and insolvable because of their complexity or scale. Through the OCEANS exhibition and symposium, TBA21–Academy is seeking to synthesize a range of knowledge systems by inviting experts from a wide range of disciplines and the general public to jointly imagine a radically different future for our planet and to take action. Dubrovnik and Lopud, whose inhabitants regularly witness effects of the human to the Adriatic Sea seemed like obvious destinations for OCEANS” stated Markus Reyman, Director of TBA21–Academy.
The exhibition marks the first time the complex of Our Lady of the Cave, which traces its origins to 1483, will be accessible to the public after an extensive 18-year conservation and adaptive reuse program.
“For more than 10 years, Lopud has served as a venue for research and development for TBA21, where we have convened artists, scientists, policy makers, and indigenous leadership, from throughout the region and across the world to collaboratively explore the most pressing issues of our times. I see no better location for the OCEANS than this beautiful region,” stated Francesca von Habsburg, Founder and Executive Producer of TBA21–Academy, whose connection to Croatia and art preservation goes back to 1994.
