TBA21 at the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference, Nice 2025
8 May – 9 June 2025
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 OcéanoFuturismos: Science Fiction Prototyping Future Ocean Imaginaries, organized by Radical Earth Futures, TBA21–Academy, 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. In La Baleine, the Green Zone of the United Nations Ocean Conference, the public will be able to experience a curated program of TBA21–Academy’s artist films, dedicated to exploring the state of the Ocean and advocating for a more-than-human sensitivity to underwater life. Alongside these collaborations, panel discussions, screenings, and conferences in association with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Tara Ocean Foundation, Université de l'Ocean (City of Nice), and Seas at Risk, among others, reiterate our commitment to collaborative practice addressing the most pressing issues facing the Ocean today.
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.