Underwater ceramic habitats to renew and enrich sea flora and fauna. The artistic concept arose from a critical reflection of global environmental devastation and comprehension of possibilities for sustainable growth through the use of natural resources.
2017 / 2018
“Today, human activities have a significant impact on the living world. In the sea, the impact manifests through increasing loss of marine habitats. This is a vicious cycle: degraded marine habitats can no longer provide goods and services such as oxygen production, marine organisms as food, or the beauty of the sea landscape.
Within the framework of the major international scientific MERCES project: “Marine Ecosystem Restoration in Changing European Seas, http://www.merces-project.eu/”, approved under the EU Horizon 2020 “Research and Innovation action” program, Professor Tatjana Bakran-Petricioli and Ph.D. Silvia Kipson from the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science of the University of Zagreb are working on a study on the restoration of degraded marine habitats, especially on the development of new methods and approaches to this topic.
The group of artists gathered in the MARE MODUL project has been creating habitats – large ceramic art objects – that will be submerged in the sea as small reefs and they will provide substrata which different organisms could inhabit. Fouling of ceramic structures with marine organisms will attract other organisms – large fish and cephalopods, which are largely depleted in the area due to human activity.”
– Tatjana Bakran-Petricioli
The study of forms and textures for Mare modul opened to me a new outlook on life in the sea. Everything is connected, the whole process of coexistence and relationships, whether of individual beings or those in symbiosis, is fascinating. I wanted to provide a playground for this diversity, that dynamic and quietness – a shelter for visitors and tenants, to realize their new home.
Huge thanks to Lidia Boševski for inviting me to participate in this project, letting me use her atelier for the produce of the modules and for all help and assistance through the whole process.
The collaboration of the MARE MODUL art project and the scientific project MERCES represents the synergy of art and science in promoting the necessity for care about the environment. This exhibition will send a message to the general public on the importance of marine habitats for people and the need for their conservation, and will contribute to raising awareness among all the people (marine biology experts, autonomous divers and the general public) about the growing problem of marine habitat degradation and possibilities for their restoration.
Timeline
2016-2018 – Meetings with scientists, ideation and production of the modules
July 2018 – Exhibition at Technical Museum Nikola Tesla, Zagreb, Croatia
August 2018 – Exhibition at Juraj Klović Gallery HDLU, Rijeka, Croatia
September 2018 – Exhibition at Frankopan Castle, Kraljevica, Croatia
Autumn 2018 – Permanent placement of all modules in the sea near Kraljevica, Croatia
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MARE MODUL GROUP – ceramists and designers: project creator and leader Lidia Boševski, Nada Benc Štuka, Danijela Pičuljan, Snješka Pokos Vujec, Marina Mijatović, Karla Rakuljić, Martina Franić, Boris Roce, Maddalena Boero, Lauren Moreira
Expert associates: dr. sc. Tatjana Barkan Petricioli, mag. Ing.of Biology and Ecology Donat Petricioli, professional submarine photographer mag.ing.Danijel Frka