NICE2025: TBA21 at the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference, Nice

May 8 – June 9, 2025

External

Janaina Tschäpe: Dormant, 2014. TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection

External

Programming

TBA21–Academy

Art and culture are not peripheral to policy—they are essential engines of transformation in democratic and ecological governance. At this year’s United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, TBA21 is partnering with a network of agents to advocate for a new paradigm for public policy—one where artists shape climate and ocean governance alongside scientists and legal experts. Through exhibitions, workshops, public programs, and participatory campaigns, this effort aims to foster emotional and sensory engagement with the Ocean by showcasing artistic works that translate scientific, ecological, and cultural knowledge into affective experiences, cultivating kinship with marine life. 

 

The exhibition Becoming Ocean at Villa Arson, organized with Tara Ocean Foundation and with the participation of the Schmidt Ocean Institute, initiates a public conversation that challenges dominant narratives of extraction, commodification, and control over the Ocean, inviting visitors to imagine more reciprocal relationships with marine environments. The exhibition’s two-day public program Porous, organized as part of the European Commission’s initiative S+T+ARTS4WaterII, reimagines ports as porous spaces of interspecies cohabitation. The workshop Science Fiction Prototyping Future Ocean Imaginaries, organized by Radical Earth Futures, TBA21–Academy’s Ocean Futurisms, and Inferstudio, explores the potential of science fiction as a mechanism for prototyping alternative futures for the Ocean. UNOC3 will also mark the launch of The Protection Principle Task Force, hosted by the Let’s Be Nice to the Ocean initiative, a multidisciplinary body charged with developing practical pathways for ocean regeneration that will report its findings at next year’s UNOC. 

 

Supporting the goals of the United Nations Ocean Conference, our program in Nice brings together diverse actors and audiences—policymakers, citizens, and creatives alike—in order to rethink and reform our relationship with the Ocean, advocating for ethical and sustainable ocean stewardship through the lens of art and culture. 

 

PROGRAM

Becoming Ocean

Exhibition

May 8–August 24, 2025, Villa Arson - Nice, France
Organized by Villa Arson, Tara Ocean Foundation, and TBA21 with the collaboration of Schmidt Ocean 
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Science Fiction prototyping future Ocean imaginaries

Radical Earth Futures, TBA21–Academy Ocean Futurisms & Inferstudio

Workshop

June 4, 2025, C.U.M. L’Université de la Mer - Nice, France

 

POROUS — Ports as Interspecies Dwelling
Symposium & Live Program
June 7–8, 2025, Villa Arson - Nice, France
On the occasion of the World Ocean Day, the United Nations Conference on the Oceans & Biennale des Arts et de l’Océan 2025 
Curated by María Montero Sierra (TBA21)
A project within the European Commission’s S+T+ARTS4Water II initiative
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The Protection Principle Task Force

An official UNOC3 Side Event & Reception

June 9, 2025, Villa Arson, Nice (by invitation only)

Organized by The Varda Group with the collaboration of TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Tara Ocean Foundation, and Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy

Hosted by the Let’s Be Nice to the Ocean initiative

 

RELATED PROGRAM

NICE2025: Becoming Ocean: a social conversation about the Ocean Exhibition at Villa Arson - Nice

NICE2025: POROUS — Ports as Interspecies Dwelling Symposium & Live Program at Villa Arson - Nice, France