Using media such as photography, video, and sound, Toni Meštrović continuously finds inspiration in the environment of the region from which he comes. The region of Dalmatia and the Croatian Adriatic Sea. A space where the sea and stone dominate, as well as the lack of drinking water.
The opening of our round table event was held on March 7th, from 12:00 to 13:00, as part of the final exhibition of the A Sea Change project. This discussion featured artist Robertina Šebjanič, Kontejner’s curator Davorka Begović, oceanographer Joan Llort, and Quo Artis project coordinator Helena Pérez Guerra.
Organised under the Sea Blindness project, the afternoon was devoted to two screenings followed with a discussion between the curator Régine Debatty and Cyprus-based Palestinian artist Jafra Abu Zoulouf.
In a world that is becoming more and more polarised. In an era where we are confronting critical interconnected challenges: system collapse, large-scale human migration due to geopolitical and border conflicts, resource scarcity (food, water, use of land, etc), increased frequency of disease outbreaks and global security issues, it’s more important than ever to show that a different world is possible. Can the art world provoke and drive social transformation, a shift in values, making us rethink our relationship to material culture? Can it reveal new definitions of what progress means?
To accompany the Sea Blindness exhibition, NeMe has organised a seminar that brought together artists, experts and researchers to discuss topics related to the Mediterranean, including its condition as a climate change “hot spot” and the state of its marine and coastal ecosystems, as well as its geopolitics and the border, rescue and surveillance practices implemented by the European Union at sea.
The main focus guiding this long term investigative and interdisciplinary project, lasting from February to September 2023, has been on the impacts of tourism’s related development affecting local citizens. This includes examining practices being developed in coastal areas that were impacted severely by polluted and warming Mediterranean waters as well as the documentation of collaborations that contribute to a more sustainable, diverse and inclusive vision of the sea and coastal towns.
Heard by the Deep is a contemporary artistic program happening in Split, Croatia in the framework of the ASEA project. It consists of artist residencies, live performances, an exhibition, a workshop, and lectures. The common thematic framework is the sea, its (human and non-human) marine communities and the related environmental urgencies – as devastating as they are imperceptible to our human senses.
What can we learn from the association of art and science with regard to a sustainable transformation of the economy on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea? What diagnoses and strategies can we draw up from this hybrid space that will allow us to establish a more balanced and less anthropocentric relationship with the sea that fills our coasts?
In the context of Money, Ruins, and the Sea, and moderated by Irini Mirena Papadimitriou, we have joined by a panel of experts responding to topics explored in the exhibition such as sea exploitation, extractivism, and human impact on our oceans and marine ecologies.
The seminar was a parallel event of the Flood Tide of Resistance project, and promoted Cyprus based initiatives that focus on the preservation of Cypriot natural ecosystems, local sustainability issues as well as the revitalisation of local environments and economies.
Curator, artist, and filmmaker Oliver Ressler introduced the exhibition Flood Tide of Resistance that brought together artists who produce their works in dialogue with the climate justice movements in which they consider themselves participants. He discussed the wide range of strategies and approaches that can be observed, such as taking over responsibility for the visual appearance of movements, the creation of tactical tools, designing direct action or the creation of alliances with different groups or organisations.
