TBA21–Academy’s digital initiatives for catalyzing critical ocean literacy through art and science
Panelists: Markus Reymann (DE), TBA21–Academy Director, Mareike Dittmer (DE), TBA21–Academy Director of Public Engagement, Beatrice Forchini (IT), TBA21–Academy Research and Education Programmer, Petra Linhartova (CZ), TBA21–Academy Head of Digital & Development, Fiona Middleton (UK), TBA21–Academy Research and Community
TBA21–Academy’s digital educational ecosystem – Ocean-Archive.org, OCEAN / UNI, and ocean comm/uni/ty – was developed to resonate with its physical venue, Ocean Space in Venice. By developing such an ecosystem, these initiatives aim to translate existing knowledge for a broader audience through new mediation strategies and seek ways to bring the ethos of Ocean Space online: inclusivity, collaboration, curiosity, porosity, and imagination, creating common spaces to gather, discover and learn together.
During the panel, audiences can expect to learn more about the three elements of the digital educational ecosystem which activate digital content and mobilize critical ocean literacy. Speakers shall lay out howstorytelling is employed as a method resulting in unique visual, textual and audiovisual production, integrated within a common curriculum, contextualised in broader practice and translated for different audiences.
The panel will also shed light on how the specific conjunction of content and tools facilitates the dialogue with a community of practitioners that share common values, take action and make a change – collectively or individually.
Markus Reymann (DE): Markus Reymann is Director of TBA21–Academy, leading the non-profit’s engagement with artists, activists, scientists, and policy-makers worldwide, resulting in the creation of new commissions, new bodies of knowledge, and new policies advancing the conservation and protection of the oceans. Reymann also serves as Chair of Alligator Head Foundation that established and maintains the East Portland Fish Sanctuary and oversees a marine wet laboratory in Jamaica.
Mareike Dittmer (DE): Mareike Dittmer is Director of Public Engagement at TBA21-Academy. From 2018 to 2020 she was director of Art Stations Foundation CH / Muzeum Susch, since 2019 she is teaching at ZHdK, the Zurich art academy. Until 2018 Mareike was associate publisher of frieze magazine. 2016, together with Julieta Aranda, she became a chairperson of the 9th Futurological Congress 2016-2018 convening in Warsaw, Tel Aviv and Munich. From 2017 to 2019 Mareike conceived and chaired the annual Disputaziuns Susch.
Beatrice Forchini (IT): Based in Vienna, Beatrice Forchini has a transdisciplinary background, combining visual arts and political theory. She gained her MA in Visual Arts and Theatre at the IUAV University of Venice and she studied Political Science and International Relations (BA) at the University of Bologna and London Metropolitan University. She has been working for various institutions dedicated to contemporary art, dance, and performing arts on the development of exhibitions, residency programs, pedagogical initiatives, and public programs. She works as a Research and Education Programmer at TBA21–Academy. 
Petra Linhartova (CZ): Petra Linhartova is Head of Digital & Development at TBA21–Academy), leading international transdisciplinary projects that defy conventional categorization. Petra specializes in management and development of environmentally-oriented artistic projects with a strong socio-spatial impact. She holds her MA in Marketing and Media Communication and in Arts Management, Education and Policy Making.
Fiona Middleton (UK): Fiona Middleton, Research and Community assistant for TBA21-Academy, and independent researcher, works on critical ocean literacy through blending ocean knowledge with artistic research methods. She is interning at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, has an academic background in geology and marine sciences, and was a TBA21-Academy 2020 Ocean Fellow.
