LIBRARY OF WATERS
The ocean comm/uni/ty is TBA21–Academy’s online social space for researchers, practitioners and enthusiasts interested in art, ecology, and the Ocean. The platform has brought together more than 2,000 members from across the planet looking for inspiration and connection over shared research interests and passions. I think of it like a rockpool: a semi-open amphibious spot where we can gather from time to time, where the tides bring in new people, new information and situations – just like the Library of Waters, a collaborative project that captures a water-loving swathe of the community.
From the very start of the ocean comm/uni/ty, when it launched in September 2021, our idea was to open a platform for people who were drawn to water, to the Ocean, and fascinated by the limitless connections that it holds: between places and communities, stories and futures, thought and feeling. Over these past three years, myself and TBA21–Academy’s Digital Team have been continuously inspired at the possibilities of connecting online – across waters – to find ways to express our practices and curiosities about the ocean, growing friendships and even collaborators in the process.
Renata Pelegrini has been at the very heart of the ocean comm/uni/ty since that beginning. In our online meeting circles, lectures, workshops and more, she always seems to have an idea on the go. The Library of Waters is one such idea that Renata proposed for our first ever ocean comm/uni/ty festival in June 2024, as a collaborative action that represents more than what you see on the surface: behind each image and set of coordinates is a burst of intention, and place never chosen by chance. It has been a pleasure to see the Library of Waters come to life!
FIONA MIDDLETON – OCEAN COMM/UNI/TY
The ocean comm/uni/ty is part of Ocean-Archive.org – an online platform that investigates the potential of storytelling and transdisciplinary collaboration within and beyond archival practices. It strives to expand critical ocean literacy in a time of great necessity and catalyzes collective action for a living Ocean.