Alberta Whittle and Licida Vidal conclude residency at Pivô Salvador

The Ocean’s Edge / Litoral do Limite: project reaches its second phase in Salvador with a residency by Alberta Whittle and Licida Vidal at Pivô Boulevard

As part of the second phase of The Ocean’s Edge / Litoral do Limite, Pivô Boulevard hosted artists Alberta Whittle and Licida Vidal between January 19 and February 4. During their stay in Salvador—the Brazilian city with the longest coastline and the country’s first capital—the artists engaged directly with the impacts of colonial legacies on coastal landscapes, central themes of the project, which brings together ocean science and Indigenous philosophies through interdisciplinary approaches.

Throughout the residency, the artists visited Indigenous communities and engaged with local artists and artisans, deepening their research within a project that began in October 2025 and has already passed through Ubatuba (São Paulo), Belém (Pará), and Newcastle (United Kingdom). The Ocean’s Edge / Litoral do Limite is carried out by Pivô and Invisible Dust (UK), in partnership with TBA21–Academy (ES), with support from the Instituto Guimarães Rosa and the British Council, as part of the UK–Brazil Season of Culture 2025–26.

On January 27, the artists took part in an immersive experience at the UFBA Planetarium, featuring fulldome video screenings presenting the Barra Marine Park and Professor Karla Brunet’s research in the Antarctic Ocean. The screening was followed by an open conversation with the professor, the artists, and members of the Fundo da Folia project.

On January 31, Alberta Whittle and Licida Vidal held the first Open Studio of the year, marking the conclusion of their residencies. The activity invited the public to engage with the research and creative processes developed during the residency, in dialogue with questions related to oceanography and the climate crisis. The Open Studio included a roundtable conversation with the artists, moderated by Professor Karla Brunet.

Licida Vidal’s participation in the project takes place through her selection for the Shifting Shores / Instabilidades Costeiras residency program, developed by TBA21–Academy, Pivô, and LACO IO-USP in Brazil, and which is part of the ten South American residencies of the S+T+ARTS Buen-TEK project, co-funded by the European Union’s S+T+ARTS initiative.

The Ocean’s Edge / Litoral do Limite is developed in dialogue with the Bienal das Amazônias (Belém, BR), the UNESCO Chair for Ocean Sustainability (BR), the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (IO-USP), the USP Laboratory of Ocean Art and Science (BR), the Institute of Arts Sciences of the Federal University of Pará (BR), the Scottish Association for Marine Science (UK), Cove Park (UK), and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (UK).

Check out images from the artists’ Open Studio.
Photos by Manuela Cavadas.