In collaboration with Fondation Tara Océan
Artists in residence programme
Image credit: Karim Iliya / Kogia
We’re supporting an artists-in-residence programme to raise awareness about ocean conservation, in collaboration with the Tara Ocean Foundation and the European Marine Biological Resource Centre.
Artists live alongside sailors and scientists for 2 to 3 weeks – either in marine stations or staying on the Tara schooner as it navigates the TREC/Tara Europa expedition along Europe’s coastlines. This unique opportunity enables artists to draw inspiration from the ocean, life at sea and research, creating impactful artwork to engage the public on the importance of preserving our ocean.
Following a competitive application process, the following artists were welcomed aboard Tara or invited to join researchers at EMBRC marine stations across Europe.
Robertina Šebjanič: Echoes of the Abyss
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Aarhus (Denmark) to Riga (Latvia): June 2023
“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.
Cécile Fouillade (Siqou): A sculptural and translucent world
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
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, Cécile hopes that her work will inspire the desire to protect marine biodiversity from the threats of pollution and climate change.
Renata Padovan: Water-Air interface
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Galway (Ireland) to Bilbao (Spain): September-October 2023
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.
Enrique Ramírez: My time, your time, other times
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Malaga (Spain) to Barcelona (Spain): March 2024
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.
Arianna Pace: Deepth
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Naples (Italy) to Ancona (Italy): May 2024
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.
Laure Winants: Seascapes
Artist-in-residence aboard Tara from Venice (Italy) to Patras (Greece): June-July 2024
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.
Yann Bagot: See, Know
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
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.
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
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.
