Beneath the Frame: Reimagining the Deep Seabed

Debates over the future of the deep seabed reveal one of the great questions of our time: will it become the next frontier of extraction, or can it be protected as a vital part of planetary care? Scientists search for life-saving medicines, explorers are drawn to its mysteries, and industry sees untapped resources. Yet beyond these competing ambitions lies a deeper challenge: how do we relate to something we cannot touch, see, or experience directly?

Everything we know about the deep sea comes to us through layers of technology and imagination. To move forward, we must expand our narratives beyond conquest and exploitation, towards empathy, connection, and stewardship. The deep sea is not just a storehouse of minerals. It produces oxygen, captures carbon, sustains life, and shapes our climate. To safeguard its future, we need new ways of storytelling: ways that inspire respect, reveal interdependence, and open space for alternative futures. It is only by expanding our cultural and scientific imaginations that we can build a sustainable relationship with the deep. 

"Beneath the Frame: Reimagining the Deep Seabed", organised by the Interactive Media Foundation, invites audiences to dive into these questions in a dynamic panel discussion. Three speakers will share fresh perspectives on how new connections to the deep seabed can be imagined and built. Through short talks and presentations, the panel will explore how our perceptions of the seabed are shaped and how we might reframe them. The event offers an opportunity not just to learn, but to join a collective reimagining of our relationship with the deep.