This Article is From Feb 04, 2016

A Museum Under the Ocean. Do You Have What it Takes to Visit?

A Museum Under the Ocean. Do You Have What it Takes to Visit?
It doesn't matter if museums in general pique your interest or not - this first of its kind museum under the Atlantic Ocean is one that should be on your travel list. That is, of course, if you don't have a fear of water.

British sculptor Jason deCaires is setting up this unique museum, named 'Museo Atlantico,' off the coast of Lanzarote in Spain, about 12 to 15 meters beneath the water surface. It will, hence, only be accessible to snorkelers and divers willing to go deep underwater to visit.

"The project drawing on the dialogue between art and nature is designed on a conversational level to create a large scale artificial reef to aggregate local fish species and increase marine biomass whilst, on the other hand, to raise awareness to current threats facing the world's oceans," explains a post on the sculptor's Facebook page.

This isn't Mr deCaires' first underwater installation. He created the world's first underwater sculpture park off the west coast of Grenada in West Indies in 2006. He also co-founded MUSA (Museo Subacuatico de Arte), a monumental museum submerged off the coast of Cancun, Mexico in 2009. In 2014 he installed the world's largest single underwater sculpture in the world, titled 'Ocean Atlas,' in the Bahamas measuring 5 meters in height and weighing over 60 tons.

Museo Atlantico, ready for enthusiasts from February 25, includes sculptures such as 'The Rubicon' which features 35 people "walking towards a gate, a point of no return or a portal to another world"; 'The Raft of Lampedusa' which shows 13 passengers on a raft; and 'Content', according to reports, which shows a couple taking a selfie.
 
 

Jason deCaires Taylor installs the first phase of sculptures in Museo Atlantico, the first underwater contemporary art...

Posted by Jason deCaires Taylor on Wednesday, 3 February 2016
.