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From May 8 to August 24, 2025, Villa Arson, TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, and Tara Ocean Foundation, in collaboration with Schmidt Ocean Institute, present Becoming Ocean: a social conversation about the Ocean, a major exhibition exploring the main challenges facing the Ocean in a choral way. More than 20 international artists are taking part in the exhibition through critical and documentary approaches as well as more sensory, poetic, or speculative expressions. The exhibition is part of the program for the Nice Biennial of Arts and the Ocean, organized as part of the United Nations Conference on the Oceans (UNOC3) to be held in Nice from June 9 to 13, 2025.
The exhibition is co-curated by three international institutions to underline the essential role of collaboration and the conviction that art and culture are drivers of social and environmental change.
Becoming Ocean: a social conversation about the Ocean will feature artists from the TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection, such as Seba Calfuqueo, Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Simone Fattal, Sonia Levy, Armin Linke, Ingo Nierman, Diana Policarpo, or Allan Sekula, and participants in the Tara Ocean Foundation's artists-in-residence program, such as Antoine Bertin, Samuel Bollendorff, Nicolas Floc’h, Christian Sardet, Robertina Sebjanic or Laure Winants. The exhibition is also organized in collaboration with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, which presents a new work by Max Hooper Schneider.
Throughout the three-month exhibition, a rich program of public events will offer engaging opportunities to experience and explore art in new ways.
Hélène Guenin, Director of the Biennale des Arts et de l'Océan de Nice
Chus Martinez, Associate Curator – TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
Sébastien Ruiz, General Secretary of the Tara Ocean Foundation
Marie-Ann Yemsi, Director of the Villa Arson Art Center
Schmidt Ocean Institute was established in 2009 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to catalyze the discoveries needed to understand our Ocean, sustain life, and ensure the health of our planet through the pursuit of impactful scientific research and intelligent observation, technological advancement, open sharing of information, and public engagement, all at the highest levels of international excellence. The Schmidt Ocean Institute Artist-at-Sea program, launched in 2015, engages art to illuminate a deeper understanding of and connection with the Ocean. The program is uniquely positioned to facilitate collaborations between artists and the world's leading marine scientists, providing the Research Vessel Falkor (too) as a
platform for advanced technology-based ocean research, that lends to artistic exploration and dialogues across disciplines. This artist-led, cross-disciplinary approach encourages explorative perspectives and rekindles a connection to the marine world, sharing new understandings and discoveries that will impact our world today and in the future.