Artists-in-Residence (2024 - 2025)
Ruwanthi Gajadeera
Ruwanthi Gajadeera is an award-winning Sri Lankan textile and fashion designer. During her EMBracing the Ocean residency, she collaborated with and was mentored by Sri Lankan marine biologist and Ocean educator, Dr. Asha de Vos. Their project is entitled ‘S. O. S. - Save our Seas’ and explored the devastating legacy of the X-Press Pearl disaster on Sri Lankan marine life. They work together to transform Dr. de. Vos' data and Oceanic heartbreak into a multi-sensory exhibition that ignites action and empowers individuals. It aims to highlight the often unseen consequences of global trade and the impact of shipping on delicate Ocean ecosystems. They brought this reality to life through textures, subtle scents, sound and heritage craft, with sustainable fashion at the core of the solution. The exhibition includes a jarring confrontation of a ravaged Ocean rendered in threads. Guided by Dr. de Vos' vision of marine recovery and hope, the artwork depicts a vibrant, healed Ocean teeming with life. The exhibitions were accompanied by a runway show and sustainable fashion workshops.
Find out more about the project here.
Elise Guillaume
Elise Guillaume is a Belgian artist exploring the interplay of psychology, ecology and notions of care. During her EMBracing the Ocean residency she created a sonic project that addresses the psychological impact of climate change and the therapeutic potential of Ocean sounds. The project was in collaboration with Marine Severin (Flanders Marine Institute, VLIZ), a psychologist who researches the positive effects of coastal landscapes on mental well-being. They created an evolving sound piece and led workshops where participants engaged with the piece and generated valuable data to shape the soundscape’s final exhibition, while advancing scientific research. In collaboration with acoustic ecologist Clea Parcerisas (Flanders Marine Institute, VLIZ), Elise also investigated underwater noise pollution. She used film photography to document the coastal landscape and the scientific recording processes and developed the photographs using seaweed. The project aspires to inspire pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours.
Find out more about the project here.
Artists-in-Residence (2023 - 2024)
Studio ThinkingHand
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Studio ThinkingHand is an art duo formed by Rhoda Ting and Mikkel Dahlin Bojesen, based in Denmark. Combining science, technology and industry, their works make stories visible looking at life beyond the human gaze, investigating speculative futures and exploring philosophies that can move us collectively and affirmatively beyond the Anthropocene. During their residency, they worked predominately in collaboration with Professor Giuliana Panieri and other scientists from the Arctic University of Norway, to create glass cores from Ocean floor sediment from extreme environments exploring how they can act as a tool for further scientific research. The glass cores were displayed in various exhibitions together with ROV footage from expeditions aiming to connect audiences to life in extreme environments across deep time perspectives and explore how learning about the past can work towards speculating shifting evolutions and futures.
Find out more about their project here.
Sonia Levy
Sonia Levy's inquiry-led practice considers shifting modes of engagement with more-than-human worlds. Her EMBracing the Ocean residency project engaged with the Venetian Lagoon "from below" with the aim to bring attention to the city's submerged, life-giving and altered bio-geomorphological processes. Sonia developed a film in collaboration with marine scientists and held participatory workshops with local resource managers and policymakers using the submarine audiovisuals as a catalyst for co-creating strategies for the Lagoon’s management. The film premiered at the Floating Cinema in Venice and was exhibited locally in a gallery exhibition and in Madrid. The project included a residency at the Stazione Idrobiologica Umberto D'Ancona, University of Padova and Sonia’s primary collaborator is Associate Professor Alberto Barausse.
Find out more about her project here.
Artists-in-Residence (2022 - 2023)
Michael Begg
Michael Begg is an award winning experimental composer and sound artist based in Scotland. He is currently Associate Artist in Residence at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, and is the Musical Director of the Black Glass Ensemble. As an EMBracing the Ocean resident artist, Michael, along with researchers based at AWI (Germany) and Hokkaido University (Japan), turned his attention to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. Starting from the observation that data is the common vocabulary of science and art, he has created new recordings, broadcasts, and performances to explore the beauty, complexity and fragility of this vast and mysterious territory.
Find out more about his project here.
Emily Lartillot
Emily Lartillot is a French dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer with Steps For A Change (SFAC) dance company. The company brings together young dancers aged 7 to 17 to create and present performances about the environment and biodiversity in close collaboration with scientists. During her EMBracing the Ocean residency, Emily co-developed the "Of Roots and Sea" choreography with Yunne-Jai Shin (Senior Scientist at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, IRD). The piece focuses on mangroves as major socio-ecological systems for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Find out more about the project here.
Lera Litvinova
Lera Litvinova is a Ukrainian artist and art curator, who EMB is supporting with an additional EMBracing the Ocean grant as support to Ukraine during the current crisis. Lera is the founder of Lera Litvinova Gallery in Kyiv. She supports an active position in the development of Ukrainian culture, and is a participant and curator of social projects actively implementing the principle of cultural diplomacy to strengthen cultural relations. As an EMBracing the Ocean artist, she has created new work co-designed with scientists to look at the impact of the war on marine pollution in the Black Sea, and links to the Mediterranean. The work was exhibited in galleries and cultural institutions and promoted through local media outlets.
Find out more about her project here.