The Current V: Ancestral Ocean

Discover the new cycle of our curatorial fellowship program; a pioneering initiative that cultivates transdisciplinary practices and the exchange of ideas around the Ocean and its understanding

Design: Fold Media Collective

The Current

2026 marks the launch of the fifth cycle of The Current: Ancestral Ocean, led by Natasha Ginwala and set to unfold from 2026 to 2028. Through creative exchange with artists, scientists, writers, and musicians, this cycle of The Current will trace oceanic kinships, cultural languages, embodied legacies, ancestral memory and marine historiographies resonant in the Indian Ocean World, particularly emphasising islands connecting Afrasian pasts, presents and futures.

The Current V: Ancestral Ocean is set to cultivate site-responsive artistic and scientific practices across island and coastal nodes, fostering situated learning and creative exchange. Supporting engagements within culturally rooted contexts that encourage slow, conscious mobility and deep listening, The Current V aims to cultivate long-term relationships across the Indian Ocean basin, expanding TBA21’s long-standing commitment to pan-oceanic alliances.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Natasha Ginwala is a curator, researcher and writer, co-curator, Sharjah Biennial 16 (2023-25), artistic director of Colomboscope, Sri Lanka since 2019 and was Associate Curator at Large for Gropius Bau, Berlin (2018 – 2024). She also served as the artistic director of the 13th Gwangju Biennale (2021). Ginwala has been part of curatorial teams of 8th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2014), Contour Biennale 8, documenta 14 (2017), Taipei Biennale 2012 and co-curated several international exhibitions, including at e-flux, Sharjah Art Foundation, Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, ifa Gallery, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, L'appartement 22, Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi, MCA Chicago, 56th Venice Biennale, SAVVY Contemporary and Zeitz MOCAA. Ginwala is a widely published author with a focus on contemporary art, visual culture, and social justice.

ABOUT THE CURRENT

Organized as a curatorial fellowship program, The Current is a pioneering initiative that cultivates transdisciplinary practices and the exchange of ideas around the Ocean and its understanding. It aims to form strong connections to local networks, map the contemporary issues concerning watery worlds, and weave them into an interdisciplinary conversation, embracing the spheres of science, conservation, policy, and education.

Each cycle of The Current is led by one or more curatorial fellows selected by the Academy, who in turn nominate artists, scientists, environmentalists, and other cultural actors to join a collective research project unfolding over three years. Since its inception in 2015, cycles of the fellowship program have been led by curators Ute Meta Bauer, Cesar Garcia, Chus Martínez, Barbara Casavecchia, and Yina Jiménez Suriel, and the artist group SUPERFLEX.

ACTIVITIES

January 25–27, 2026

Marine Intersections and Coastlines as Webs, first convening of the cycle in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in partnership with the Colomboscope Festival’s ninth edition, Rhythm Alliances. With Brook Andrew, Daniel Fernando (Blue Resources Trust), Fana Fraser, Hajra Haider Karrar, Neelima Jeychandran, Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Arka Kinari, Laleh Khalili, Atiyyah Khan, Naiza Khan, Joseph Kamaru, Setareh Noorani, Charwei Tsai and Small Cat Advocacy and Research (SCAR).

August 29–September 6, 2026

Listening into Waterways, first flotation—multi-day, itinerant field journey—of The Current V to Nairobi and Lamu, Kenya. Contributors: Batila, Priya Basil, Shiraz Bayjoo, Sana Ginwalla, and Parisa Vaziri.

September 5, 2026

Listening into Waterways, public event at Kamene Cultural Center, Nairobi, Kenya. With Priya Basil, Shiraz Bayjoo, Sana Ginwalla, Parisa Vaziri, and live music by Batila and Ketebul Music, and Kenge Kenge.

October 9–11, 2026

Riverberi Festival, Ocean Space, Venice. Including the live performance “Artivism at the Sea” by Arka Kinari.

The Current V is endorsed as a Decade Action in the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030)