Waterfronts in Bibinje: Art, Science and Community for Coastal Preservation

The Waterfronts community event in Bibinje brought together art, science and the local community through dance film, visual art and stories of the sea, opening a dialogue on coastal preservation and climate change.

Photo by Leo Banić

Bibinje as a Gallery by the Sea

The Waterfronts community event took place in Bibinje, bringing together the local community, artists and researchers around a shared question: how can we speak about the changes affecting our coasts, and how can art inspire care for the sea, the environment and the places we call home?

Held on 30 May 2026 on the ground floor of the Bibinje Municipality building, the event presented artistic works developed within the EU project Waterfronts. The program included the premiere screening of the dance film I’mprint by Anđela Bugarija, as well as the presentation of the painting cycle Sea Stories by Kristina Bugarija.

When the Sea Becomes a Space for Dialogue

The Waterfronts project connects art, marine science and social engagement in order to open conversations about climate change and its impact on European coastal communities. In Bibinje, this dialogue took on a local, personal and highly visual form - through movement, painting, underwater imagery and stories rooted in life by the sea.

The event was especially meaningful because the presented works were directly inspired by Bibinje and its coastal landscape. During the Blue Residency, held in Bibinje in August 2025, the artists explored the relationship between people and the sea, environmental change, and the ways in which art can communicate the vulnerability of coastal spaces.

Artworks: I’mprint and Sea Stories

The dance film I’mprint combines contemporary dance, video art and underwater footage through three dance miniatures that explore the fragility of the body, space and ecosystems. A significant visual contribution came from underwater footage by local diver Đani Iglić, whose images of the Bibinje underwater world helped shape the atmosphere and inspiration behind the film.

Alongside the film, the audience was introduced to Sea Stories, a painting cycle consisting of three connected works: Sunny Day, Tidal Wave and Sea City. Through symbolic depictions of the sea, the coast and the community, the cycle reflects on the environmental and social changes shaping contemporary life by the sea.

Photo by Leo Banić

Art as a Call to Responsibility

The Waterfronts community event in Bibinje showed how art can become a powerful tool for bringing complex topics closer to the public. Climate change, coastal preservation and shifts in marine ecosystems can often feel distant or abstract. Yet through movement, image and sound, these issues become something that can be felt, understood and shared.

This sense of connection was at the heart of the event: a meeting point between the local community, artistic research and scientific awareness. Bibinje was not only the setting of the programme, but also a source of inspiration, a place of creation and an active participant in the story of coastal preservation.

Photo by Leo Banić

International Collaboration with Local Roots

Waterfronts is a project involving partners Gotaland from Sweden, LATRA from Greece and IM Industries from Croatia. The project connects different European coastal contexts, while always beginning with local stories, communities and landscapes.

The event in Bibinje was supported by the Municipality of Bibinje, while the project is co-funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.