Our Goal

ART4SEA promotes and supports interdisciplinary collaboration between artists, scientists, creative professionals and digital technology experts, focusing on engaging people to change their relationship with the ocean and take action individually and collectively.

Ocean Literacy

An understanding of our influence on the ocean and of its influence on us can make a difference for a better more sustainable world.

Art

Art and artistic expressions have a unique capacity to connect directly to peoples‘ perceptions and emotions and motivate change in existing behaviours and notions.

Technology

Digital technologies such as Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality can reach a larger number of people and maximize public awareness and engagement.

Melting Art, Creativity and Marine Sciences to foster Ocean Literacy in the Mediterranean area

ART4SEA

Ocean health is an urgent issue and the focus of the United Nations’ most recent actions. ART4SEA aims to contribute to the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) combining art, creativity, science, and technology to raise public awareness toward a greater respect for the marine environment.

The project will mix and match modes of co-production, mentoring, and in-person and distance training, striking an appropriate balance between the need to have physical interactions and the need to reduce travel that is costly in terms of carbon footprint.

Twenty-four international artists will be selected through an open call and trained on ocean conservation, sustainable practices in art and digital technologies. Later in 2024, three small islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Ustica in Italy, Alonissos in Greece, and Gozo in Malta, will host a distributed residence program, where artists will be inspired by the beautiful natural environments, the ancient maritime traditions and the direct relationships with the local communities to create born-digital and physical artworks.

In 2025, the physical artworks will be integrated into the marine, natural and architectural landscapes, of Ustica, Alonissos and Gozo, thus creating open-air and underwater museums that will make the three islands a beacon for Ocean Conservation.
The born-digital and digitised physical artworks will be also showcased in a virtual exhibition – accessible both on the web and the metaverse – that will be at first housed in the three islands and in the Vision Multimedia Center in Vlora, Albania.
The ART4SEA project will conclude with a Grand Event in Ustica, during which the old part of the island will be enlivened by various performances staged with the participation of the local community.

Call for

Artists-In-Residence

Join this inspiring journey for spreading ocean conservation!

Expected Results

Participatory Cooperation model

A knowledge-based and technology-enabled network in which motivated and selected actors work together to co-create resourceful ideas and solutions.

Open Call

An open call to select 24 international artists that will be engaged in a co-creation project addressed to spread ocean literacy and inspire a more environmentally friendly behaviour.

24 International Artists

24 international artists will participate to a training and mentoring program and will take part in a residency program on the project’s islands (8 artists on each island), before creating their artworks.

Training and Mentoring Program

A training and mentoring program run by marine scientists, digital experts, and creative professionals, will enable the selected artists to improve their skills on Ocean Literacy, digital technologies and innovative and sustainable methods applied to the creative process.

Residency Program on 3 islands

A 7 days residency program will take place on each of the 3 Mediterranean islands of the project (Ustica, Alonissos and Gozo), where the beautiful natural environments, the ancient maritime traditions and the direct relationships with locals will inspire the artists.

24 Artworks

24 Artworks focused on raising public awareness of Ocean Degradation and Climate Change, will be created by the artists after the residency program. 12 artworks will be born digital and 12 will be physical.

Art Exhibitions

The physical artworks will be integrated with the marine, natural and architectural landscapes of the islands, thus creating an open-air and underwater museum that could characterize the three islands as lighthouses of the Ocean Conservation.

Virtual Exhibition Platform

The physical artworks will be digitized and showcased in an exhibition accessible both on the web and the metaverse with the born digital artworks. The virtual exhibition will be at first housed in the three islands and in the Vision Multimedia Center in Vlora.

Final Grand Event in Ustica

To conclude the ART4SEA project, the old part of the Ustica island will be enlivened by various performances staged with the participation of the local community.

The Artists

Meet the artists who will participate in the distributed residency.

The Islands

Ustica, Alonissos and Gozo will be the inspiration and the first destination of the ART4SEA project. A 7 days residency program will take place on these three small islands in the Mediterranean basin, where the beautiful natural environments, ancient maritime traditions and direct relationships with locals will inspire the artists in their own creativity.

The physical artworks will be then integrated with the marine, natural and architectural landscapes of the islands, thus creating an open-air and underwater museum that could characterize Ustica, Alonissos and Gozo as lighthouses of the Ocean Conservation.

Ustica
Italy

Ustica

Alonissos
Greece

Alonissos

Gozo
Malta

Gozo

Vision Multimedia Center

The Vision Multimedia Center will be the first to host digitised physical and born-digital artworks produced on the three charming Mediterranean islands of the project. The Center is in Vlora, a coastal city and municipality in southern Albania, which includes the Karaburun Peninsula and Sazan Island and houses the Port, the University of Vlorë, and the unique seaside park Sazan-Karaburun.
The VMC two-story building is set on the seafront, at the Lungomare, on the right of the Tourism Laboratory’s entrance, in a popular part of the city. It occupies around 34 square meters and includes classrooms, great outdoors, and a veranda. The virtual multimedia gallery is also equipped with two 3D glasses, a projector, and some videos about the underwater treasures of the coast of Vlora to promote cultural heritage and natural resources by combining innovation and technology with traditional elements.

ART4SEA consortium

A strength of the project is the very diverse partnership. The ART4SEA consortium is made of 7 high-profile European cross-sectoral partners carefully selected for their acknowledged excellence to provide the necessary knowledge, expertise, and state-of-the-art background required to ensure the success of the project as well as the sustainability of the proposed approach and expected results. All the partners share the common interest and a consolidated experience about the sea environment with different and complementary perspectives.

Our News

Art4sea project presentation at the Creative Europe Infoday!
Art4sea project presentation at the Creative Europe Infoday!

Art4sea was presented during the first Creative Europe InfoDay of 2024.

ART4SEA team announces the 24 selected Artists
ART4SEA team announces the 24 selected Artists

ART4SEA team is delighted to present the 24 selected Artists of the Call for Artists-in-Residence.

Art4sea in Palermo for the first-year meeting
Art4sea in Palermo for the first-year meeting

Art4sea in Palermo for the first-year meeting: the selection of artists has been completed and will be announced shortly.

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

ART4SEA Project  2024 | All rights reserved | Developed by 3D Research