TBA21–Academy’s public program at Ocean Space aims to look for creative solutions to the most pressing issues facing the Ocean today in the hope of creating new transformative and participatory visions for the future. The public program applies TBA21–Academy’s practice of collaboration and of disseminating local ecological knowledge through cultural programming to raise awareness to environmental issues and support regenerative ways of living.

The exhibition “Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania”, curated by Bouganiville-born artist Taloi Havini, follows her ancestral rhythms. Through a call and response method, she has invited artists, curators, writers, community advocates, poets, musicians, and many others to participate in public programs at Ocean Space during the opening of the 2024 Venice Biennale. The program will provide trans-Pacific and cross-cultural exchanges through dynamic conversations, creating a new surge of stories that promote solidarity in these uncertain times and also suggest ways of slowing down the clock on extraction, countering it with reverence for the life of our Oceans.

The public program will focus on the concept of hospitality, offering participatory activities aimed at different audiences in Venice and giving space to the local community.

The program will unfold across multiple events between April and October 2024, connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Venice Lagoon. It will be guided by streams, to learn how to formulate the conscious actions that shape our daily life.

DJ sets, talks, listening sessions, and workshops aimed to open our ears and give space to voices and sounds from the Pacific on this long journey to Venice.

Through performances, rituals, and participatory activities, we stage the movement of the body, paying attention to its endurance in a choral effort and listening to its depths, while always looking at the lagoon as well. In collaboration with Spazio Levante Association.

Screening events dedicated to the theme of deep-sea mining, a starting point of TBA21–Academy’s program Culturing the Deep Sea, an exploration of the narratives and intricacies around deep-sea mining, expanded into two cycles of the online learning initiative OCEAN / UNI developed in dialogue with Taloi Havini.

A hands-on research program contributing to the ongoing discussion on food resources by raising awareness to the potential harm of everyday routines and encouraging an interspecies approach toward the food supply chain that would be regenerative for our ecosystem. Curated with Barena Bianca and closely aligned with the themes of “Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania,” Convivial Tables: A Resistance Diet Plan aims to activate a process of resistance to environmental issues in the areas of Oceania, Australia, and Asia-Pacific.