Artists were welcomed aboard the scientific schooner Tara and at European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC) stations across Europe during the TREC – Tara Europa expedition in 2023 and 2024, thanks to close collaboration between BIOcean5D, the Tara Ocean Foundation and the EMBRC.
Sharing the daily lives of the scientific and marine crew, the residencies provided a unique opportunity for inspiration from observation, exploration and discovery of the ocean and research carried out. The resulting artwork aims to engage citizens, conveying the value of marine biodiversity and the fundamental importance of ocean conservation and preservation.
Read on to meet each of our artists and discover their work!
Robertina Šebjanič
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Aarhus (Denmark) to Riga (Latvia): June 2023
© Alexis Gilli – Fondation Tara Océan
Echoes of the abyss I. (Toxic legacies of oceanic ecologies)
© Robertina Šebjanič
“The ocean is our future, but it’s also a way to look back into the past.” Robertina’s work addresses the impact of human activities on marine ecosystems. During the residency aboard Tara, she focused on the toxic pollution of military weapons dumped and abandoned in the Baltic Sea: a living heritage of past military wars and conflicts. By recording underwater soundscapes at these forgotten sites, Robertina hopes to communicate the importance of ocean protection and conservation.
Learn more
Yann Bagot
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Stockholm (Sweden) to Kristineberg (Sweden): July 2023
Artist-in-residence at the Kristineberg (Sweden) EMBRC station: July-August 2023
© Anne-Kristell Jouan – Fondation Tara Océan
Horizon, mer Baltique (Suède, Tara-Europa, #30)
© Yann Bagot, Adagp, Paris
The residency provided the opportunity for Yann to explore the effects and transformations of Indian ink in seawater, with examinations and inventions inspired by working aboard a research vessel. Guided by his surroundings, Yann’s drawings depict ocean seascapes and the microscopic marine life he observed. His art was further influenced by the constraints and realities of the environment: where and how it was possible to work aboard the boat as it moved according to the power of the wind and waves.
Learn more
Cécile Fouillade | Siqou
Artist-in-residence at the Bergen (Norway) EMBRC station: August 2023
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Bergen (Norway) to Galway (Ireland): August-September 2023
© Maéva Bardy – Fondation Tara Océan
Croquis-terre syngnathe, réalisé à bord de Tara – Tara Europa, 2023 © Siqou
Each drop of water contains thousands of microorganisms and the residency aboard Tara enabled Cécile to observe the beauty and diversity of this invisible and little-known world. Her wish was then to reproduce, showcase and immortalise the shape, texture and colour of these plankton species using porcelain – a similarly translucent material. By transmitting their fragility, Cecile hopes that her work will inspire the desire to protect marine biodiversity from the threats of pollution and climate change.
Learn more
Renata Padovan
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Galway (Ireland) to Bilbao (Spain): September-October 2023
© Leslie Moquin – Fondation Tara Océan
Orbital series, #004
© Renata Padovan
Aboard Tara in the open sea, subject to the vagaries of wind and swell, Renata experienced a feeling of suspension and a strong connection with the unpredictable. This continual movement led her to perceive herself as a part of this environment, and indeed of nature. Among multiple artistic approaches employed onboard, Renata recorded the movement and energy of the waves with a pendulum and pen on paper. Through the transcription of movement, rhythmic repetitions and abrupt changes of direction, she engraved the memory of the surface.
Learn more
Enrique Ramírez
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Malaga (Spain) to Barcelona (Spain): March 2024
© Louise Cognard – Fondation Tara Océan
Quatro lamentos au paisaje
Enrique Ramirez, 2024 – Photo de Florian Kleinefenn
Inspired by the scientific work carried out on Tara, Enrique ‘fished’ water to collect, catalogue and study samples of microplastics. The residency aboard Tara also provided the time and space to imagine how photography, film, sculpture and music could be combined to create a sound sculpture, where sounds are produced using microplastics.
Learn more
François Olislaeger
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Nice (France) to Naples (Italy): April 2024
Artist-in-residence at the Naples (Italy) EMBRC station: April-May 2024
© Sylvain Elfassy – Fondation Tara Océan
Carnets, Tara Europa
© François Olislaeger, Adagp, Paris
Cartoonist and comic strip author François sketched his surroundings, the crew he met and the science he observed aboard Tara. His drawings reproduce the fascinating microscopic world of shapes and life that he discovered in samples collected from the ocean. His sketches, diagrams and comic strips represent the sensations, experiences, encounters and impressions collected during the residency.
Learn more
Arianna Pace
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Naples (Italy) to Ancona (Italy): May 2024
© Sylvain Elfassy – Fondation Tara Océan
Failed attempt to synthesize the sea, Watercolor book, 8x900cm, 2024 © Arianna Pace
Aboard Tara, the bare but constantly changing seascape enables time to expand and become space, within which Arianna observed the sea, sky, wind and landscape. Through the creation of two books, one of photographs and the other of watercolours, Arianna tried to capture snapshots of the continuously moving and interdependent sea and sky.
Learn more
Laure Winants
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Venice (Italy) to Patras (Greece): June-July 2024
© Agathe Roullin – Fondation Tara Océan
Expérimentation abyssale, collaboration en cours avec les fonds marins et l’interaction des écosystèmes, 2024
© Laure Winants
Laure’s work as an artist-researcher is dedicated to exploring and revealing the invisible. By recording underwater soundscapes and installing different experimental sensors sensitive to light, pH and the chemical composition of water, Laure’s project aimed to create an immersive installation that makes microscopic ecosystems and scientific data visible, particularly the impact of chemical pollutants along the coastline.
Learn more