In collaboration with the Sámi Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, aabaakwad, and Artis, the Ocean Fellowship 2022 gathers participants to consider our kinship and duties of care toward the Ocean and its relations in multi-species communities and with diverse lifeforms. What are our responsibilities toward the Ocean? How can thinking from the Ocean build radically inclusive environments? Indigenous perspectives are brought to the centre of the work to define resurgent values, forms, and stories and intertwining knowledges of the past, present, and futures of the Ocean we are all in relation with and dependent upon.
The Ocean Fellowship facilitates connections across the diverse localities, knowledges, and oceanic routes of its fellows and mentors, who will spend time together in Venice exploring opportunities to learn through oceanic Indigenous methodologies that will also reach a wider audience through the Academy’s ecosystem: Ocean Space in Venice, Ocean-Archive.org, and OCEAN / UNI.
The 2022 programme supports four fellows and the two mentors, Rebecca Belmore and Harald Gaski (to be confirmed), who will conduct individual and collaborative research with an awareness of oceanic worldviews and marine histories. Over a three-month residency (1 April – 30 June 2022), they will combine an understanding and recognition of Indigenous marine governance and leadership, exploring non-binarism as a philosophy, equality, social justice, jurisprudence, and justice strategies that protect the water. The Fellowship continues to bring attention to storytelling as a methodology, as an action that portrays and conveys a territory, a mindset, and a substance, encouraging intergenerational exchange, building resilience in communities. The water between us binds us.
The 2022 programme is looking for four fellows who identify as Indigenous and/or who align themselves with Indigenous issues. Artists, activists, scientists, and practitioners from all fields are encouraged to apply for the fellowship. Applicants should engage critically with oceanic subjects.
The Ocean Fellowship will offer a total allowance of 4500 EUR per fellow for the full duration of the programme, in addition to covering the travel to and from Venice and accommodation in Venice for three months (subject to one return ticket and modest accommodation in accordance with the travel policy).
