‘On waves’: an exhibition of contemporary art about the sea and its research has opened in Odesa

This weekend, the Odessa Museum of Contemporary Art launched a special exhibition entitled ‘On waves’.

It is the result of collaboration between scientists and artists. It tells about the role of the sea in our lives, marine research and the restoration of the connection with the sea that was disrupted by the war.

It is symbolic that the exhibition opened in Odesa, as this city was born by the sea. It was from here that major oceanographic expeditions, the first Ukrainian Antarctic expeditions and EMBLAS Joint Black Sea surveys started. Now, because of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, access to the Black Sea and, from there, navigation to other seas is, unfortunately, very limited.

During the preparation for the exhibition, scientists gave lectures to the artists for two weeks. They talked about the history of expeditions organised by the Ukrainian Scientific Centre of Ecology of the Sea (UkrSCES) and the Institute of Marine Biology, including in frame of the EMBLAS cruises, and current research conducted by the National Antarctic Scientific Centre (NASC) in the Southern Ocean.

The results presented by the artists are impressive!

‘The sea leaves no one indifferent. This art project attempted to bring science and art together and create a synergy worthy of the most powerful element on the planet,’ said Evgen Dykyi, head of the NASC, at the opening.

‘For three and a half years now, because of the full-scale war, Ukraine has been unable to continue its planned scientific research of the Black Sea.

However, we have not stopped admiring the beauty of our sea, remembering how it feels to experience its boundlessness on board a vessel, and making plans together with our sea. All these emotions are masterfully conveyed by the artists at the exhibition’ – Olena Marushevska, EU-UNDP project ‘European Union for Improving Environmental Monitoring of the Black Sea’ (EU4EMBLAS) stated.

The exhibition features installations by eight artists, including:

● a reversed perspective: how the sea looks at us

● a fragile but stable structure made of algae holding stones — a metaphor for unstable human existence

● letters gradually overgrown with marine microorganisms. This work is dedicated to the loneliness of those who work in the seas and oceans

● photos of the Black Sea, drones in it, blooms and pollution in the red spectrum

● a Petri dish with marine microorganisms as a small society model.

‘This is not a memorial, but a living practice of reflection: where silence becomes a form, absence becomes an object, and the sea appears as a witness and co-creator,’ notes exhibition curator Polina Piskuryova.|

We invite you to get acquainted with this amazing art reflections.

Location: Museum of Contemporary Art, 31/33 Europeiska Street, Odesa
Tuesday – Sunday, 12:00 – 18:00.
Until 30 November.

Authors of the works: Sofia Golubeva, Nina Laguta, Lilia Nebera, Elza Gubanova, Victoria Khoroshilova, Alina Radomska, Tetiana Podubienko and Anastasia Sopilnik.

Curators: Tetiana Tadai, Polina Piskuryova.

The exhibition is organised with the support of the Ukrainian Scientific Centre of the Ecology of the Sea, the EU-UNDP project ‘European Union for Strengthening Environmental Monitoring of the Black Sea’ and National Antarctic Scientific Center.

Photographs: Matvii Didych

Media about the exhibition: “Between art and science”// Kyiv Daily, 6 October 2025