Who we are
EN/ES
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary is a leading international art and advocacy foundation. Established in 2002 by philanthropist and art patron Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, the foundation stewards the TBA21 Collection and its outreach activities, which encompass exhibitions, educational programs, and public engagement activities. TBA21, headquartered in Madrid, works in association with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and operates key initiatives in Venice, Italy, through its art and science center, Ocean Space, as well as in Portland, Jamaica.
The foundation’s work is inherently collaborative, driven by artists and guided by the conviction that art and culture serve as catalysts for social and environmental transformation, ultimately contributing to peace. TBA21 views peace as an ongoing practice rooted in the affirmation of life, diversity, and coexistence. Committed to this vision, the foundation seeks to theorize, experiment with, and advocate for peacebuilding practices in partnership with artists.
TBA21–Academy, the foundation’s research arm, pursues a better understanding and deeper relationship with the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems by working as an incubator for transdisciplinary inquiry, artistic production, and environmental advocacy. For over a decade, the Academy has induced new forms of knowledge emerging from the exchanges between art, science, policy, and conservation in long-term and collaborative engagement through new productions, exhibitions, public programs, fellowships, residency programs, and other activities in a wide range of formats.
Some of its flagship projects are the Ocean Space (Venice); the independent studies program Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies (Madrid, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza), The Current Pacific/Mediterranean/Caribbean; the online initiative Ocean-Archive.org, with OCEAN / UNI; and the European project Bauhaus of the Seas Sails. TBA21–Academy offers artists’ residencies at the Jamaican-based Alligator Head Foundation. An organization which TBA21 helped launch in 2015, this foundation is devoted to the conservation of marine ecosystems and its practice focuses on the intersection of science, art, and community.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary is a leading international art and advocacy foundation. Established in 2002 by philanthropist and art patron Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, the foundation stewards the TBA21 Collection and its outreach activities, which encompass exhibitions, educational programs, and public engagement activities. TBA21, headquartered in Madrid, works in association with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and operates key initiatives in Venice, Italy, through its art and science center, Ocean Space, as well as in Portland, Jamaica.
The foundation’s work is inherently collaborative, driven by artists and guided by the conviction that art and culture serve as catalysts for social and environmental transformation, ultimately contributing to peace. TBA21 views peace as an ongoing practice rooted in the affirmation of life, diversity, and coexistence. Committed to this vision, the foundation seeks to theorize, experiment with, and advocate for peacebuilding practices in partnership with artists.
TBA21–Academy, the foundation’s research arm, pursues a better understanding and deeper relationship with the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems by working as an incubator for transdisciplinary inquiry, artistic production, and environmental advocacy. For over a decade, the Academy has induced new forms of knowledge emerging from the exchanges between art, science, policy, and conservation in long-term and collaborative engagement through new productions, exhibitions, public programs, fellowships, residency programs, and other activities in a wide range of formats.
Some of its flagship projects are the Ocean Space (Venice); the independent studies program Organismo | Art in Applied Critical Ecologies (Madrid, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza), The Current Pacific/Mediterranean/Caribbean; the online initiative Ocean-Archive.org, with OCEAN / UNI; and the European project Bauhaus of the Seas Sails. TBA21–Academy offers artists’ residencies at the Jamaican-based Alligator Head Foundation. An organization which TBA21 helped launch in 2015, this foundation is devoted to the conservation of marine ecosystems and its practice focuses on the intersection of science, art, and community.