From 9 May to 8 June 2026, One Ocean Foundation and ZEITGEIST19 present As Above, So Below, a landmark group exhibition and interdisciplinary research project, Collateral Event of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Elizabeth Zhivkova and Farah Piriye Coene, the exhibition takes place in the former Church of Santi Cosma e Damiano on the island of Giudecca, Venice.
At a moment of accelerating ecological instability, As Above, So Below positions the ocean not as a distant abstraction, but as a living system through which planetary transformation becomes perceptible. The exhibition approaches the sea as an active archive, a generative force that records deep time, sustains biodiversity, and reflects the fragile equilibrium between technological acceleration and ecological limits. By transforming the architectural sanctity of the former church into a space for contemporary contemplation, the curators highlight the urgent need for a transdisciplinary approach to the world’s most vital ecosystems.
Drawing on the Hermetic principle of correspondence, As Above, So Below Collateral Event investigates radical interdependence between cosmos and Earth, atmosphere and abyss, human and more-than-human life. As celestial movements govern tides, the condition of the ocean emerges as a sensitive register of planetary imbalance, unfolding within the former Church of Santi Cosma e Damiano on Giudecca, now home to Fabbrica H3, where scientific observation, cultural memory, and layered histories intersect. Through the integration of sound, light, and computational systems, the historic architecture is activated as an immersive environment for resonance, ecological reflection, and deep listening.
The Collateral Event As Above, So Below brings together seven international artists and collectives: Marshmallow Laser Feast, Yoko Shimizu, Antoine Bertin, Almagul Menlibayeva with Suad Gara, Andrea Crespi, Elnara Nasirli, and Orkhan Mammadov. Their practices span immersive installation, sound, moving image, and artificial intelligence, forming a collective inquiry across art, science, and technology. Marshmallow Laser Feast present Seeing Echoes in the Mind of the Whale, an immersive audiovisual installation shaped by whale vocalisations and bioacoustic research, inviting audiences into the sensory world of cetaceans and reflecting on forms of communication and navigation beyond the human. Antoine Bertin’s Fish String Theory explores submerged marine intelligences through the acoustic landscapes of the Venetian lagoon and the long-mysterious sound of the Mediterranean stonefish. The work was developed through a residency initiated by One Ocean Foundation and ZEITGEIST19, alongside further research at Auckland University of Technology. Yoko Shimizu’s bioluminescence-inspired installation likewise emerged from an As Above, So Below residency aboard a research vessel, drawing on plankton as a fragile indicator of planetary balance and ecological interdependence. Almagul Menlibayeva and Suad Gara, with an original score by Reinhold Heil, present Water Older Than the Sun (Caspian), a multimedia installation addressing the ecological collapse of the Caspian Sea, alongside Suad Gara’s short documentary Requiem for the Caspian, produced by ZEITGEIST19. Together, the works foreground the region’s environmental and cultural precarity. In two newly commissioned works, Andrea Crespi’s holographic vitrine conjures Thetis within a primordial jellyfish—a perceptual threshold between natural data and mythic archetype—while Orkhan Mammadov employs artificial intelligence to map fungal networks above and below the soil line, making below-ground dialogue perceptible. Elnara Nasirli’s Whispering Forest grounds the exhibition in terrestrial intelligence, translating the bioelectric signals of an olive tree into sound through human touch and foregrounding reciprocal relationships between bodies and ecosystems.
Farah Piriye Coene and Elizabeth Zhivkova, co-founders of ZEITGEIST19 and curators of As Above, So Below: “Through works that translate scientific data and non-human intelligences into sensory experiences of deep time, the exhibition proposes ecology as ancestral intelligence and positions regeneration, listening, and collective memory as alternative modes of understanding within the context of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.” Developed as a long-term research platform, As Above, So Below extends beyond the exhibition through curated talks, podcasts, public programs, and artist residencies, bringing together artists, filmmakers, marine scientists, researchers, and thinkers to explore biodiversity, sustainability, and the entanglement of cultural and natural systems. As Above, So Below is recognised as a UN Ocean Decade Action and is part of the UNESCO Blue Thread, situating it within an international network of initiatives dedicated to marine ecosystem protection. Through a combined poetic and scientific approach, As Above, So Below addresses ecological instability not as an abstract emergency, but as a lived condition of interdependence. It invites the public to reconsider the foundations of life, what is taken for granted and what is at risk of being lost. The Collateral Event As Above, So Below will open on Saturday, 9 May 2026, and will evolve into a living platform of conversations alongside the multidisciplinary dialogue artworks on view. Conceived as an active space for exchange, the exhibition extends beyond presentation into an ongoing process of reflection and engagement. It will be accompanied by a public program of curated talks featuring international artists, marine scientists, researchers, and thinkers. These sessions will offer further insights into biodiversity, sustainability, and the relationship between culture and natural systems.The exhibition will conclude on 8 June 2026, coinciding with World Oceans Day, reinforcing the link between the curatorial vision and global environmental commitment.
