‘Adriatic I: Echoes of the Abyss’ seeks to uncover the profound connections between the sea’s perceived vastness and the tangible scars left by human actions. Exploring these intersections through interdisciplinary research and storytelling calls for a deeper understanding of our shared responsibility in addressing these silent threats to life beneath the waves. The project explores the hidden environmental and geopolitical legacy of discarded chemical weapons on the ocean floor. These toxic remnants, often overlooked or ignored, pose significant threats to marine ecosystems and human health.
Building on preliminary research conducted during Robertina Šebjanič residency aboard the TARA research vessel at the Baltic Sea and continued in the frame of MADE IN Platform residency with a focus on the Kvarner region of the Adriatic Sea, this project integrates an interdisciplinary approach, combining art, science, storytelling and craftsmanship to examine the long-term effects of warfare on aquatic environments. Central to the inquiry is the disruption of marine life — whose biological functions and communication systems are altered by human-made pollutants.
Opus of works:
ECHOES OF THE ABYSS
‘Adriatic I: Echoes of the Abyss
Artist (Creative Direction – Concept, audio design, video editing, and text) by Robertina Šebjanič
Collaborators and Advisors:
Dr. Matthias Brenner, scientific advisor, Dmitry Morozov – VTOL, technical consultant Tanja Minarik, video support; reGalerija d.o.o. (tapestry/carpet), Tanja Minarik (field work- photo, video), David Drolc (metal), Ivanka Pasalic (glassblowing), Rok Kovatch, audio recording and mastering
Special thanks to: Diving Team of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit, Special Intervention Police Unit Rijeka and Special Intervention Police Unit Osijek, Croatia
Production:
TARA foundation (FR) 2023-25
MADE IN Platform — Oaza and Drugo more (HR) 2024/25
Co-production: Zavod Projekt Atol (SI) 2024/25
photos by Borut Brozović, at a group exhibition at Drugo More / Filodrammatica Gallery: (Un)Tamed Sea; MADE IN PLATFORM (OAZA/DRUGO MORE)
Interview by Ivana Borovnjak: Navigating the Depths: An Interview with Robertina Šebjanič The intersection of art, science, and marine ecosystems as an introduction to the residency in Croatia: https://madein-platform.com/dialogue/navigating-the-depths-an-interview-with-robertina-sebjanic/
With Echoes of the Abyss, Robertina Šebjanič explores the complex relationships between history, the marine environment, geopolitics, and the human footprint, charting submerged landscapes of harm not only as zones of contamination, but also as spaces of memory, resilience, and future-making.
The work builds on the initial research conducted aboard the Tara expedition vessel in 2023, where Šebjanič studied the contamination of marine environments by decaying munitions in the Baltic Sea. This research has been further extended to include the Adriatic region, revealing how geopolitical histories marked by conflict leave enduring marks on the environment.
Abandoned unexploded ordnance (UXO) left behind by conflicts lie scattered on the seabed around the world’s oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes, posing environmental and ecological dangers. As the corroding shells thin over time, they begin to seep into the seafloor, releasing hazardous chemicals into groundwater and seawater alike, destabilising the delicate balance between the human and more than human worlds.
Through this multifaceted approach, Echoes of the Abyss invites viewers and listeners to confront the long-lasting, often invisible consequences of war, and to reflect on the urgent need to care for the aquatic and subterranean ecologies that sustain life- both near and far, now and into the future.
February 2025, filed trip and study visit of a training ground for young and new entrants to the anti-explosion fleet – Diving Team of the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit, Croatia
In April 2024, during the Made In residency artist Robertina Šebjanič took part in the first phase of her research of Rijeka localities which culminated with a public workshop co-mentored with a sound recordist Ivo Vičić – In / Above Water Sonic Mapping. The workshop was organized as a part of Abandon Normal Devices Fair (Sajam 3N) at the ex-Torpedo Launching Station in Rijeka. Devoted to the sonic mapping of the shore of the Adriatic Sea, this event offered audiences a chance to immerse themselves in the under/above water soundscapes of the historic landmark where torpedoes had been sent out into the sea or onto their targets. As the first torpedo has been invented in Rijeka, the locality is also a strong landmark of the city. The workshop included a practical in situ lecture/presentation about the disturbing human presence in underwater acoustics, as well as listening to the bioacoustics of aquatic environments above and under the waves at the shores, but it also served as a launching pad for Robertina to explore and research a locality of an old military complex.
