22 June 2023
“Adopt a float” event
"Adopt a Float" day at the Institut de la mer in Villefranche-sur-Mer (Sorbonne University/CNRS)
The “Adopt a Float” day on 22 June 2023 at the Institut de la mer in Villefranche-sur-Mer (Sorbonne University/CNRS) was attended by the French Minister for Higher Education and Research, Sylvie Retailleau, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and Antoine Petit, Chairman and CEO of the CNRS. A large number of VIPs were on hand to witness the day’s work by six classes from Joseph Calderoni primary school in Villefranche-sur-Mer. Over the course of the school year, these six classes – around 150 pupils – adopted “Bob-the-float”, a BGC Argo profiling float, whose journey they followed as part of the “Adopt a float” educational programme run by Carolyn Scheurle, head of the programme, and her team. Bob the float was dropped into the Indian Ocean on 16 October 2022, during the expedition led by Explorations de Monaco, by the scientific teams of Hervé Claustre, co-leader of the BGC-Argo international ocean monitoring programme.
The pupils were able to present their work over the course of the school year, make new discoveries and exchange views with researchers, scientific mediators and invited guests. They also visited the “Indian Ocean Expedition” exhibition by the artist Rémi Leroy, who was on board during the expedition.
Bob-the-float ” works for science, ocean education and sustainable development
A float for scientific purposes
The “Bob-the-float” profiling float underwater robot, which has been sailing in the Indian Ocean since 16 October 2022, is part of a flotilla of ultra-modern robots that are helping to observe the ocean by measuring essential ocean parameters. It is part of the international ‘One Argo’ programme, which aims to observe changes in the health of the world’s oceans in the context of climate change using a flotilla of these robots. The Institut de la mer de Villefranche (IMEV) is one of the pioneers of this programme.
A float for educational purposes
In addition to its scientific application, the “Bob-the-float” robot is being used by IMEV’s scientific mediators in the “Adopt a float” educational programme. Like the Joseph Caldéroni primary school in Villefranche-sur-Mer, young pupils in Seychelles and Mauritius have adopted other floats deployed during the Monaco Explorations Indian Ocean Expedition. Profiling floats are excellent tools for bringing ocean sciences into the classroom. 1900 students in France and abroad benefited from this programme in 2022-2023.
From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean
Initially deployed in the Mediterranean before being put back in the water during the expedition organised in the Indian Ocean at the end of 2022 by Explorations de Monaco, the “Bob the Float” robot illustrates a desire to make observations that are as eco-responsible as possible. Reusing these highly sophisticated and expensive devices is currently one of the programme’s priorities. Like 4,000 other profiling floats, it collects and transmits biogeochemical data, which is then made freely accessible in real time to scientists around the world.
March 17 to June 27, 2023
“Multiple perspectives” at the Oceanographic Museum
The "Multiple perspectives" exhibition retraces the course of the 2022 Indian Ocean mission of the Explorations de Monaco.
Since March 17 and until June 27, 2023, visitors to the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco are invited to discover in the Conference Room, Multiple perspectives, an exhibition that evokes the course and development of the Indian Ocean 2022 mission of the Explorations of Monaco.
Inauguration on March 21, 2023 by H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco
Restitution day on March 21, 2023 and opening of the exhibition Multiple perspectives at the Oceanographic Museum
Strong moments, places, atmospheres... The look of the artists
Alick and Albert honored in Spain, Australia and Italy
From July 7th to 11th: "Alick and Albert" honored in Spain, Australia and Italy
At the beginning of July, the documentary film “Alick and Albert” directed by Douglas Watkin was honored in Spain, Australia and Italy.
The film was screened in Spain and Australia as part of NAIDOC Week, an annual Australian celebration of the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
On July 7, the Embassies of Monaco and Australia in Spain joined forces to organize a screening at the Palacio de Hielo cinema in Madrid, which captivated many guests, including several Ambassadors, representatives of Spanish institutions and economic actors as well as the Consuls of Monaco.
From July 8 to 10, the film was screened in public sessions at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney, which hosted the artist Alick Tipoti as a special guest.
As part of NAIDOC Week, the Australian Consulate General in New Caledonia will host a screening of the film on August 9 at the Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Nouméa.
On July 11, the film was presented during the participation of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco at the opening of the 25th Gran Paradiso Film Festival at the Château d’Aymavilles. This screening was part of the program for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Gran Paradiso National Park, which was created as a result of the numerous exchanges that Prince Albert I had with King Victor-Emmanuel III on his experience of the national parks visited in the United States.
Alick and Albert : the story
14 February 2022
“Alick and Albert” Special Jury Award at FIFO 2022
"Alick and Albert" wins a special jury award at the 19th International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival
In competition at the 19th International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival (FIFO) held in Papeete, French Polynesia, from February 5 to 13, 2022, the documentary “Alick and Albert” won a Special Jury Award. For its 2022 edition, the FIFO had selected 12 long-features from the 120 films viewed by the pre-selection committee. Presented to the public at the Maison de la Culture de Tahiti and online on the Festival’s digital platform, the films in competition were submitted to the appreciation of a jury chaired by Emmanuel Kasarhérou, President of Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (Paris, France).
The jury was impressed with this film profound showcase of indigenous art as a way to preserve and perpetuate culture as well as connect and communicate across borders on one of the most pressing issues of our time, climate change. This film acts as an inspiration for all of us to do our part in protecting our oceans and all life that drives from them.
About the International Oceanic Documentary Film Festival
Born in 2004, the International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival has gradually attracted filmmakers from Oceania and elsewhere. They see it as a great opportunity to take a fresh look at the region through the prism of authenticity and diversity, two key elements of its success. The Festival has thus won over an ever-growing audience, bringing together more than 30,000 spectators in 2020.
13 October 2021
Alick and Albert : the film in preview in St-Tropez
The event in pictures
The film retraces the relationship and exchanges between H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco and the Australian artist Alick Tipoti. An unlikely friendship was born after the exhibition “Taba Naba: Australia, Oceania, arts of the peoples of the sea” at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco in 2016 and those that followed on Badu Island, in the Torres Strait in northern Australia in 2018, as part of a mission by Explorations de Monaco, then in Monaco in 2019.
The film explores the intersection of art, science and nature through a constructive and respectful exchange between two men, two worlds, two models of society. It questions the diversity of Man’s relationship with Nature in today’s world and transmits a universal message in favour of peace, tolerance and harmony between Humanity and the Ocean.
Private screenings
The world premiere of the film will occur at the Brisbane International Film Festival in Australia prior to its release in Australian cinemas. Pending the possibility to organize the international premiere on the occasion of a European or North American festival and schedule the theatrical release outside Australia accordingly, the film is being shown in private screenings by invitation, in particular at the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco and at the Maison des Océans in Paris.
