The sound of sea bottom is silence. The refugees drown into the sea. Sculptures in an underwater museum. British artist Jason deCaires Taylor created this museum to showcase the plight of thousands of war refugees risking their lives in dangerous waters for a better future.
DeCaires Taylors’ refugee sculptures sit nearly 50 feet (15 meters) below the sea surface off Lanzarote island, one of the Spanish Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
video:
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube Direkt
Reportedly funded by the [Spanish?] government, the project focuses on Europe’s refugee crisis and includes several installations of refugee sculptures.
One installation — “The Raft of Lampedusa” — is an updated take on “The Raft of the Medusa,” a Romantic painting by French artist Théodore Géricault.
“Drawing parallels between the abandonment suffered by sailors in his shipwreck scene and the current refugee crisis, the work is not intended as a tribute or memorial to the many lives lost but as a stark reminder of the collective responsibility of our now global community,” deCaires Taylor wrote in a Facebook post about the installation.
The sculptures are made of pH-neutral marine cement to attract sea creatures and promote coral growth.
video: behind the scenes of the project
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube Direkt
It is the first submerged sculpture exhibition in Europe. Museum Atlantico opens its gates on February 25th 2016 but for visitors with diving gear only.
Jason de Caires Taylor official website here
