Woman’s View of the Sea is the Norwegian part of an art and research project that celebrates contributions of female researchers and female contemporary artists to the topic of the sea.
Women’s View of the Sea, this art and research project culminated in an art exhibition which served as a platform to elevate the voices and achievements of female artists and researchers, shedding light on their invaluable work. The art exhibition provided a powerful visual representation of the intersection between art, science, and gender equality.
The art exhibition has been opened to an enthusiastic audience of over 70 visitors on 18th of September 2024, by Ketil Eiane, Prorector for Research at Nord University, followed by inspiring keynotes from Marit Helene Thoresen (Bodø2024), Ingrid Larssen (artist) and Nadezda Nazarova (researcher).
The visitors had the unique opportunity to explore oceanic themes through the lens of contemporary visual art. The exhibition’s installations invited viewers to engage with scientific insights into marine ecosystems, climate change, and biodiversity.
The exhibition has been held in Noatun, a brand-new building of the Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture at Nord University. This state-of-the-art science venue allowed a modern and dynamic setting to showcase artworks.
Christin’s workSolveig & CecilieArtists: Lill-Anita, Solveig, Christin, Cecilie, Ingrid (from left)Visitors in the exhibition at NORD
Highlights from the Exhibition
Ten artworks were showcased, each reflecting diverse artistic interpretations of topics in marine science. These pieces created through various media such as photographs, sculptures, textiles, videos, VR experience, highlighted the relationship between the ocean and humankind.
The project and exhibition have left a lasting impact, sparking discussions on the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and inspiring ongoing initiatives aimed at elevating the voices and achievements of womaen and bridging the gap between science and art we hope will continue to influence and inspire.
Woman’s view of the sea has been initiated by Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences (IO PAN) in 2022 to address historical underrepresentation of women in a marine context.
Former director of the Institute of Oceanology PAN (IO PAN), Jan Marcin Weslawski says:
We focus on the marine realm, all fields of science. We want to show how woman are explaining „The Sea”. For centuries, the sea was explored, studied and shown to the public by man. Still in 1970-ties in many countries women were not allowed to take part in research cruises (too long, to physically demanding, too masculine etc.) and now more than half of large marine projects are run end executed by women scientists. Still the narrative about the Sea is a traditional men’s domain – marine painters of the past were men, and most marine books, stories are by men.
As we are concerned with building ocean literacy, the women are needed to complete this task. We want to show to the broad public that the Sea is not only the area of fight and ultimate physical challenge, but it is extremely interesting, important, and also beautiful source of spiritual and esthetical values.
We want to show the broad public that the Sea is not only the area of fight and ultimate physical challenges
