Made by us
Mar (that in portuguese means sea) is a long extension of salt water • MOTTO is an idea expressed by a phrase that serves as a guide or motivation for a person, group, country or nation.
The health of our oceans is seriously threatened and although this is very obvious, there are still many people who do not seem to believe it. The health of our oceans is seriously threatened and although this is very obvious, there are still many people who do not seem to believe it. For those who are aware of the fragile balance of marine ecosystems, the organisms that inhabit them and all that humanity has done to ruin them, the question always arises – What can I do? Our answer is simple – A LOT !!! The Oceans belong to all of us and we all have the right and the duty to protect them! This mission should be even more alive in Portugal, a country that is more sea than land and that worldwide is synonymous of Sea.
The Mar Motto concept intends to use Art as a means to communicate this message in a simple, incisive and creative way in order to generate action, because we believe in the power of art as a tool for scientific dissemination and, above all, for environmental awareness. This idea is not new, but with Mar Motto, Sciaena directly challenges Portuguese artists to let their creativity flow and get down to work to help us make everyone think, breathe and protect the sea. And when we say Art, we think of all its possible forms, from the most common and mainstream, to the most unusual and underground ones. The idea is always to exhibit the masterpieces or materials produced and also to raise funds to use in actions to raise awareness and protect the ocean, to be organized by Sciaena. Do you have any ideas that you think might work? – Talk to us!
Cinema is probably one of the simplest and most comprehensive forms of communication that exist. After a successful 2013 edition, in Faro, of the festival “Beneath the Waves Film Festival”, in 2015 Sciaena began to develop its own festival format in order to make it less limited, more adapted to the national realities and becoming one of the many regular initiatives of the association. In this way, based on the experience acquired previously, Sciaena intends to show in Portugal a selection of documentaries dedicated to the ocean, with the aim of encouraging, inspiring, raising awareness and promoting its free access not only to specialists but also to the general public.
The festival aims to facilitate scientific communication about the marine world, promoting an open discussion, creating an opportunity for researchers, students, filmmakers and others interested in film and media to enjoy and discuss together the issues of the sea, giving wings to their imagination. The ocean has a voice and it’s the one from all of us!
Species ABC is an initiative in which some marine species that inhabit the Portuguese coast are introduced. Starting with the Shortfin Mako Shark and ending with the Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, the alphabet allows you to travel along the entire coast and through various areas of the ocean. All photographs are by Portuguese photographers and this also allows the dissemination of the work of these professionals. Through sharing some fun facts about the biology of the species and the most unusual characteristics, these species – some of them threatened and/or protected – are brought closer to the citizens letting them know where they can find them and what they can do to contribute to their preservation.
Multiple Choice is a project about responsible consumption of seafood and was designed particularly for social media. Responsible or sustainable consumption is an issue that is increasingly concerning citizens, who sometimes feel overwhelmed by the variety of information available on what qualifies a consumption habit as sustainable or unsustainable. To answer these questions, some aspects that can be part of the concept of responsible consumption were identified, such as reducing, diversifying, fishing gear, origin, aquaculture, certification and packaging. Within each theme, some topics easy to apply at the time of purchase in the market or supermarket were systematized, in order to simplify the matter and facilitate more responsible and informed choices.
