“The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place”, said one of the founders of the environmental movement, marine biologist and writer Rachel Carson. The Ocean’s Edge/Litoral do Limite is where the ocean has two edges: the edge from which you step out of the world you know, and the sea of possibilities, a place or ocean of imagination.
The Ocean’s Edge/Litoral do Limite uncovers the future of the Atlantic Ocean with climate crisis in the pivotal COP30 year. Conceived by Pivô Arte e Pesquisa (BR) together with Invisible Dust (UK), and in partnership with TBA21 Academy (ES).
Artists, scientists and indigenous thinkers from Brazil and the UK ‘will step from the Ocean’s Edge’ through workshops, residencies and exhibitions with the University of São Paulo Oceanographic Institute, Bienal das Amazonias Belém, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém (BR), Cove Park, Baltic and the Scottish Association of Marine Sciences (UK).
The Atlantic Ocean is the earth’s great conveyor belt, a quarter of our water and fundamental to the earth’s climate. Climate change, overfishing, development and pollution affects Brazilian and Scottish Atlantics.
Joining with indigenous and other communities in Brazil and Scotland we create an imaginative interdisciplinary decolonial confluence of Pivô, Invisible Dust and TBA21 for lasting collaboration.
Taking place from August 2025 to June 2026 – during a crucial year for global climate action on our oceans with COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil – the project is developed in collaboration by two world leading marine research laboratories: the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo Brazil (IO-USP) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (UK).
*The Ocean’s Edge/Litoral do Limite was selected through the UK-Brazil Season of Culture open call.
Partners and co-creators of the project
- Pivô Salvador (BR)
Pivô Salvador is a contemporary art and culture institution founded in July 2023, with the goal of establishing itself as a multidisciplinary platform focused on research, exchange, and artistic experimentation in the Northeast of Brazil. Its purpose is to support and promote local artistic production by creating an inclusive space for dialogue among various agents of the contemporary cultural field, both nationally and internationally. - Invisible Dust (UK)
Founded in 2009 by Artistic Director Alice Sharp, Invisible Dust creates new thinking to address urgent climate futures through ambitious collaborations between leading artists and scientists. The organization inspires UK and global audiences to engage with critical environmental issues through contemporary art commissions, events, and pioneering scientific ideas. - Brazilian Partners:
Bienal das Amazônias
Instituto de Ciências da Arte da Universidade Federal do Pará
Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo
Laboratório de Arte Ciência Oceânica (LACO-USP) - European Partners:
S+T+ARTS – Buen-TEK (EU)
TBA21–Academy (ES) - UK Partners:
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
SAMS – Scottish Association for Marine Science
Cove Park