‘The ocean speaks. New ecologies and new economies of the seas'
From 10 October 2024 to 23 February 2025, the exhibition ‘The ocean speaks. New ecologies and new economies of the seas’ will be open at the Disseny HubBarcelona (DHub). This exhibition invites visitors to explore the relationship that Barcelona and other coastal cities will have with the sea in a future marked by theimpact of climate change on the ocean and its lifeforms, and also the possibilities this presents for multiple future pathways. The exhibition is produced by the DHub as partof the Cultural Regatta, linked to the America’s Cup, and is curated by the centre’s artistic director, Jose Luis de Vicente. with the collaboration of Fundación Telefónica,Manifesta 15 and iGuzzini. The starting point for the exhibition is Barcelona after the 1992 Olympic Games, when the city’s seafront became a fundamental feature of the city’s image. However, taking aglobal perspective, it looks at the challenges and conflicts already being seen (and predicted to become even more prevalent in the medium term) in coastal communities,which are home to 40% of the world’s population and make up a significant proportion of our most valued land. The predicted rise in sea levels, the increasing number ofadverse weather events and a growing political will to protect the seabed are forcing us to rethink the relationship coastal cities have with the sea and the creatures that livethere, which are often unknown to humans despite the fact that we are inextricably connected to them. The DHub proposal approaches these issues from a multifaceted perspective. With its scenic presentation, the exhibition, covering almost 900 metres, introduces us to somefifteen projects from disciplines including architecture, technology, speculative design and urban planning. Each of the projects offers a response to one of the challengescontemporary communities will have to face in the near future: how they interrelate with the ocean. The projects explore the current situation, put forward hypothetical future scenarios and reimagine the presence of the sea in human lives.
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