Português
Shifting Shores: project reaches its final stage with activities in the Netherlands and Italy, following periods in Salvador and Ubatuba
Shifting Shores, a project developed by TBA21–Academy, Pivô, and the Ocean Art and Science Laboratory of the Oceanographic Institute at the University of São Paulo (LACO IOUSP), reaches its final stage with the participation of resident artist Licida Vidal (São Paulo, Brazil) at the Impakt Festival (Utrecht, Netherlands) and at Art, Science, and Ecological Care, held at Ocean Space (Venice, Italy). The project is part of the ten South American residencies of the S+T+ARTS Buen-TEK initiative, co-funded by the European Union’s S+T+ARTS program.
During the European season, Licida will present her project “A spoonful of salt and one of sugar: solutions for a feverish ocean,” developed over the past months during residencies in Ubatuba, São Paulo, and Salvador, Bahia, at Pivô Boulevard. At the Impakt Festival, on the 11th, Licida presents her work in the panel “Infrastructures of Care” alongside artists Mari Nagem, Anthony Tandazo, and Lorena Salas, residents of other programs developed by S+T+ARTS Buen-TEK. Find out more.
On the same day, Pivô’s International Projects Manager, Estela Santana, also participates in Impakt in the panel “Art through Abya Yala,” alongside representatives from different South American institutions. In a conversation about the challenges of organizing art outside major centers, the discussion addresses distance, lack of infrastructure, and inequalities, highlighting the need for constant adaptation and resistance to extractivist models, while emphasizing practices grounded in territory, exchange, reciprocity, and more collaborative modes of action. Find out more.
On the 17th, Licida presents the project at Art, Science, and Ecological Care, held at Ocean Space in Venice, once again alongside Mari Nagem and Anthony Tandazo, whose work engages with urban and marine environments in Ubatuba, Salvador, and Fortaleza—three coastal cities in Brazil. The presentations will be followed by a roundtable with scientists, researchers, and cultural agents from partner institutions in Brazil and Europe, moderated by Belgian scientist and artist Luc Steels. Find out more.
Licida’s project analyzes the main stress factors affecting coastal waters in Salvador and Ubatuba, investigating the relationship between local communities and the sea. In parallel, the artist collaborates with materials laboratories to create ecosystemic sculptures: submerged and surface structures made of macroalgae and adsorbent materials that function as living marine gardens capable of capturing pollutants such as CO₂, glyphosate, and microplastics.
Recently, the artist succeeded in installing the first filtering capsules, made of ceramic, in two locations in the sea off Ubatuba (São Paulo). The full installation, still a pilot project under testing, had part of its research developed at Pivô Boulevard between January 19 and February 4 of this year, when Licida was in residence. The composition aims to create a filtering marine body through bioremediators capable of capturing pollutants, hosting organisms, and responding to the ocean’s chemical transformations. Revisit the artist’s process.
The artist also takes part in the international project The Ocean’s Edge, carried out by Pivô (Brazil) and Invisible Dust (United Kingdom), in partnership with TBA21–Academy, with support from Instituto Guimarães Rosa and the British Council, as part of the UK–Brazil Year of Culture 2025–26. Alongside artists Alberta Whittle (Barbados, 1980) and Letícia Ramos (Brazil, 1976), Licida will continue her residency at Cove Park in Scotland, expanding her research.
Shifting Shores is a project co-commissioned by TBA21–Academy, Pivô, and LACO IOUSP within the framework of the S+T+ARTS Buen-TEK program, co-funded by S+T+ARTS, an initiative of the European Union.
