Shifting Shores / Instabilidades Costeiras

Licida Vidal (b. 1984) is a visual artist living and working in Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. She studied Social Sciences at the University of São Paulo (USP). Through performance, photography, video, and installations, her research addresses issues of gender and nature within the context of climate emergencies. Her work weaves together subaltern knowledge, intimate experiences, and academic research in a search for strategies to restore autonomy to bodies and territories, engaging with discussions around interdependence, scale, territory, diversity, and coexistence amid the collapse of the fossil fuel era.

She is a member of Coletivo Vozes Agudas, a feminist study and intervention group formed exclusively by women active in the São Paulo art scene — including researchers, curators, producers, artists, educators, and cultural managers — who have met regularly since 2018 at Ateliê397. Since 2020, she has participated in several artist residencies, such as Usina de Arte (Pernambuco), Usina Luis Maluf Residency (São Paulo, 2023), Terra Saúva Residency (São Paulo, 2023), and Respiro Rural Residency (São Paulo, 2024). She sees this movement between territories as essential to understanding the complexity of the environmental and social questions at the core of her practice. The works resulting from these residencies unfold into exhibitions and public presentations that expand and deepen the dialogues proposed by each research.

Gabriela de Matos is an architect, curator, and researcher dedicated to decolonial practices, Afro-Brazilian spatialities, and counter-hegemonic narratives in architecture. She holds a master's degree in History and Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism from FFLCH-USP and is currently pursuing a PhD at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands, within the Curatorial Research Collective. Founder of an architecture studio that develops cultural, residential, and expographic projects across Brazil, Gabriela has led significant exhibitions at institutions such as the Instituto Moreira Salles, MASP, MAM Rio, and the Museum of Art of Rio. She was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale. Gabriela’s work integrates curatorial methodologies, architectural research, and a deep connection to traditional knowledge and practices of Afro-Brazilian culture.

Karla Brunet is an artist and researcher with a Ph.D. in Audiovisual Communication (UPF, Barcelona, Spain – CAPES Scholarship) and an MA in Fine Arts (Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA, CAPES Scholarship). She has participated in different art exhibitions around the world. From 2009 to 2012, Karla was the coordinator of Labdebug, a media lab focusing on women and free software/hardware. She was also the curator of FACMIL/LabMAM, a media lab at the MAM Bahia. In 2014/2015, Karla did a post-doc at UDK, Berlin (CAPES Grant). In 2020/21, she was a visiting researcher at LaboLuz/Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain (CAPES Print Grant) and at Medialab/UFG. Karla is a professor at IHAC, ProfArtes, and PPGAV/UFBA and coordinates Ecoarte, an interdisciplinary group on art, technology, and the environment. Her art practices involve photography, video art, data visualization, sensory environment, hybrid art, audiovisual performance, web art, mapping art, science communication, and gaming, always focusing on experiences in nature.

Fabiane Morais Borges, Curator, LACO-IOUSP 

Fernanda Brenner, Director, Pivô

María Montero Sierra, Head of program, TBA21–Academy 

Gabriela de Matos, Curator, appointed Residency Translocal Expert

Karla Brunet, Artist and researcher, appointed Residency Community Representative

Artistic lead and curator: María Montero Sierra

Pivô is a non-profit cultural association that, since its foundation in 2012, carries out important activities related to research, training and artistic production, through its exhibitions, residence program, commissioned projects and educational actions. It is a meeting point between different generations of artists, cultural agents and the general public with the Brazilian artistic production. In 2023, it inaugurated its new headquarters in Salvador, establishing a strong network of relations and collaboration with local, national and international institutions. 

The Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (IOUSP) is a leading research and education center dedicated to the study of marine, coastal, and estuarine environments. Its work covers the main areas of oceanography: biological, physical, geological, and chemical, with advanced infrastructure in specialized laboratories. With nationally and internationally recognized undergraduate and graduate programs, the institute trains researchers and develops projects that expand the understanding of ocean dynamics and provide scientific support for the development of public policies related to the marine environment.

LACO – Oceanic Art and Science Laboratory is a transdisciplinary platform for collaboration among artists, scientists, and coastal communities, based at the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (IOUSP) and developed as a line of action within the UNESCO Chair for Ocean Sustainability. Through residencies, exhibitions, public programs, and field activities, it fosters dialogue among different ways of knowing, expanding how we perceive, narrate, and inhabit marine environments. 

S+T+ARTS (Science, Technology, and the Arts) is an initiative by the European Commission that highlights a nexus with extraordinarily high potential for innovation–an essential aspect of mastering the social, ecological, and economic challenges that Europe will be facing in the near future. S+T+ARTS Buen-TEK is S+T+ARTS’ first initiative in South America, exploring how Indigenous knowledge and advanced technologies can blend to tackle socio-environmental challenges and inspire new ways to build a more resilient future. 

This residency is co-commissioned by TBA21, Pivô and the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (LACO-IOUSP) within the framework of S+T+ARTS Buen-TEK project, co-funded by the S+T+ARTS initiative of the European Union.