July 10, 2018 – The eagerly awaited exhibition OCEANS. Imagining a Tidalectic Worldview has opened in Dubrovnik and on the island of Lopud.
OCEANS. Imagining a Tidalectic Worldview is an exhibition which ‘suggests a different way of engaging with the oceans and the world we inhabit’. It is presented in two parts, having opened on Wednesday 4th July at the Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik (MOMAD), and on Friday 6th July at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cave on the island of Lopud, and will remain open until Sunday 30th September. The symposium ‘Return to the Sea’ accompanied the opening at both venues and included curators and leaders of TBA21-Academy, artists whose works are included in the exhibition, members of MOMA, and key voices from the Adriatic, such as scientists and policymakers, who pay particular attention to the impact that human interference has on the oceanic ecosystems and local communities.
The term ‘tidalectics’ was first used by the Barbadian poet and historian Kamau Brathwaite and describes the movement of water, the fluctuating tides, the rhythmic sound of the waves and their ripples as they wash onto the shore.
The opening of the exhibition on Lopud enabled members of the public to visit the recently restored Franciscan monastery. Following 18 years of reconstruction, the monastery is now able, once again, to contribute to the cultural life of the island, and will be used for conferences, retreats and summits.
Founded by Francesca von Habsburg in 2011, the aim of TBA21-Academy is to explore the ocean, its cultures and its histories, and to see the impact man has on this environment, especially the effects of climate change. It has taken scientists, anthropologists, marine biologists, lawyers, policy makers and artists on expeditions to the remotest parts of the Pacific, as well as Iceland and Greenland, North America, and the Caribbean. It believes that by bringing people together from different disciplines it will provide a deeper understanding of the oceans, and that art can help to provide creative solutions to important environmental issues, and act as a vessel for inspiration, action and change.
Organised by TBA21-Academy, in conjunction with MOMAD’s director Marin Ivanović, International Project Manager Jelena Tamindžija, and the rest of the MOMAD team, this is the third instalment of the Academy’s exhibition Oceans (the first being held in Vienna in 2017 and titled Tidalectics, and the second in Tourcoing, France, earlier this year, and titled Ocèans: Une vision du monde au rythme de vagues) and is the first time it’s been held in a coastal area. Markus Reymann, director of TBA21-Academy says that being able to hold the exhibition in Dubrovnik ‘is particularly fitting as Croatia and the Adriatic Sea have played an important role in the history of migration and trade.’.
The exhibition, curated by Stefanie Hessler, is shown in its original version, with many of the pieces being the result of the Academy’s expeditions, and others being additional pieces from the TBA21 collection. It presents works by 17 artists and includes multi-media installations, video works, photography and sculpture. They offer an oceanic perspective on the cultural, political and biological dimensions of the oceans, with some examining the effects of man-made issues such as exploitation of resources and environmental damage, for example under-sea mining and nuclear testing, and others high-lighting the effects of climate change and the rise in sea levels.
The artists whose works are shown in the exhibition are: Doug Aitken, Atif Akin, Darren Almond, Julian Charrière, Rineke Dijkstra, Elmgreen & Dragset, Tue Greenfort, Ariel Guzik, Newell Harry, Alexander Lee, Armin Linke, Eduardo Navarro, Lisa Rave, Sissel Tolaas, Janaina Tschäpe & David Gruber, Jana Winderen, and Susanne M. Winterling.
You can find further information about TBA21 and the exhibition by visiting www.tba21.org.
For more details about the Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik go to www.momad.hr.
