TBA21-Academy

TBA21-Academy TBA21-Academy is the exploratory soul of Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, and an itinerant site of cultural production and interdisciplinary research.

Bringing together thinkers from all fields it is conceived as a moving platform on the oceans.

29/05/2026

“With the swelling of rivers and the heating of the ocean waters, Sri Lanka is in a precarious condition in the Indian Ocean World, a space that has for long been hospitable to ancient cosmopolitanism, but also the influx of colonial empire over centuries.” – Natasha Ginwala, curator of The Current V: Ancestral Ocean

Bringing together artists, thinkers, conservationists, students, and local organizations, the first Convening of The Current V: Ancestral Ocean opened a space to reflect on Sri Lanka’s position within the Indian Ocean World: a territory shaped, colonial histories, and long-standing Afro-Asian connections.

Through this interdisciplinary encounter, the program begins to trace broader oceanic kinships and slower, more conscious ways of carrying out research across islands, coastlines, and shared waters.

Video: TBA21—Academy |

18/05/2026

The Current V: Ancestral Ocean is the new edition of TBA21–Academy’s curatorial fellowship program. This cycle, led by Natasha Ginwala, traces oceanic kinships, cultural languages, embodied legacies, ancestral memory, and marine historiographies resonant across the Indian Ocean World.

Between 2026 and 2028, the program brings together artists, researchers, and musicians through a series of gatherings, research processes, and public moments, including the recent first Convening, which took place during the Colomboscope Festival in Sri Lanka in January 2026.

Discover the full video on our YouTube channel.

Video:

05/05/2026

Creating with the Ocean means embracing instability as an essential condition.
In “a spoonful of salt and a spoonful of Sugar: solutions for a feverish ocean”, Licida Vidal investigated the changing coastal waters of Salvador and Ubatuba, crafting a floating assembly where winds, waves, currents, algae, people, plankton, and contaminants meet.
Conceived as a living installation, Vidal created structures of porous ceramic bodies that invite macroalgae and bacteria. These organisms form a station for ocean care, drawing on marine life’s inherent capacity to filter and remediate surrounding waters.
The project is developed in the context of “Shifting Shores”, an artistic residency program in Brazil, developed by TBA21–Academy, Pivô, and LACO IOUSP, supported by the S+T+ARTS Buen-TEK initiative of the European Union.

07/04/2026

Organismo 2026 | Commission for Crimes Against Reality (C.C.C.R.)

What if reality itself were put on trial? This second public event is set as a fictional commission to literally collectively reflect on the mechanisms by which truth is produced, circulated, and legitimized in contemporary society. The interactive activity will take place in the auditorium of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza on Thursday, April 16, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

The commission will be constituted by two auditors, who will present concrete “events” illustrating the contemporary erosion of shared truth: Máriam Martínez-Bascuñán, trained in Political Science and Law, Lecturer in Political Theory and Feminism at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and author of ‘El fin del mundo común’(2025); and Loreto Corredoira, PhD in Information Law, lawyer (not currently practising), journalist and Director of the Observatorio Complutense de la Desinformación.
Gabriel Ventura, poet and author of ‘El mejor de los mundos imposibles. Un viaje al mundo del reality shifting’(2025) will act as the observer, responsible for responding to and critically examining the cases presented by the auditors.
In the role of secretary of the session, the commission will be convened by architect, professor and researcher Uriel Fogué, author of ‘Las arquitecturas del fin del mundo’ (2021).

Free tickets and info in the link in bio.

01/03/2026

Organismo 2026 | Meet Domestic Data Streamers, Pulso of The End of the Real case study

Domestic Data Streamers is a collective from Barcelona, comprising journalists, researchers, coders, artists, data scientists, and designers focused on exploring new data languages and their social implications.

Their goal is to find and understand the value in the fringes between disciplines.

24/02/2026

Organismo 2026 | Meet Gary Zhexi Zhang and Jacob Bolton, Pulsos of the Last Resorts case study.

Gary Zhexi Zang is an artist and writer whose work explores systemic connections between cosmology, technology, and the economy. He recently edited Catastrophe Time! (2023), a collection of essays, fictions, and interviews about finance and time, and is working on a new book about technoculture in a multipolar world.

17/02/2026

Organismo 2026 | Meet Andrea Muniáin, Pulso of Premium Stuff. Andrea develops a research-based practice between architecture, visual arts, and critical theory. Her work explores how bodies, space, and digital technologies intersect, focusing on the political implications of digital representation.

15/02/2026

Organismo 2026 | Meet Grandeza, Pulso of Planetary Theatre of Tourism’s case study. The collective works across architecture, art, research, film, and performance to examine late-capitalist spaces and expose forms of structural violence. Their work has been shown internationally, from the Venice Architecture Biennale to Milan, Lisbon, Melbourne, and Sydney.
studio CRIGUST

23/01/2026

How is the Indian Ocean world shaped by cross-oceanic kinships and cultural connections?

Diving into Afrasian pasts, futures, and maritime stories formed in these waters, The Current V’s first convening unfolds through stories of mobility, labor, and ecological threats to the hydrosphere.

The convening “Marine Intersections and Coastlines as Webs” in Sri Lanka (January 25–27, 2026), led by Natasha Ginwala, maps timely inquiries from an island perspective and takes place alongside Colomboscope’s 2026 edition, Rhythm Alliances.

More details about the event at the link in bio.

22/01/2026

New open call for texts!

In the context of OCEAN / UNI, we are commissioning texts that bring additional perspectives to the themes of the upcoming semester.

This call is open to anyone whose research, practice, or lived experience resonates with the semester’s topics and who would like to contribute a written piece to Ocean-Archive.org’s Journeys page.

Apply via the link in bio.

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