Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation

TBA21–Academy is a contemporary art organization and cultural ecosystem fostering a deeper relationship to the Ocean through the lens of art to inspire care and action. For a decade, we have been an incubator for collaborative research, artistic production, and new forms of knowledge by combining art and science, resulting in exhibitions, research, and policy interventions. Established in 2011, the nonprofit's program is informed by a belief in the power of exchange between disciplines and in the ability of the arts as a vessel for communication, change, and action. Since its inception TBA21–Academy has launched groundbreaking projects combining artistic, sociopolitical, scientific, economic and especially environmental concerns. These initiatives include Treasure of Lima: A Buried Exhibition, a site-specific exhibition including works by leading contemporary artists including Marina Abramovic, Ed Ruscha, Olafur Eliasson, Doug Aitken, and many more. It was buried in a secret location on the Isla del Coco, Costa Rica. The Academy developed the Alligator Head Marine Lab in collaboration with the University of the West Indies, which resulted in the establishment of the largest privately backed fish sanctuary in Jamaica that is managed by the Alligator Head Foundation. During an expedition to the Solomon Islands TBA21–Academy Director Markus Reymann and Dr. David Gruber discovered on a night dive the biofluorescent properties in the endangered Hawksbill Turtles. The sensational discovery exploded onto the global stage with over a million hits on the National Geographic website. In 2019 , the Academy has launched two initiatives to share its research and practice with the wider public: the physical venue Ocean Space in Venice, and the digital platform Ocean Archive. In 2020 , the Academy introduced a new funded research opportunity, the Ocean Fellowship Program, and Ocean / Uni, a curriculum providing students, researchers, and the public with wide-ranging and accessible explorations of the changes taking place throughout the oceans at a high level of expertise.