An underwater sculpture museum is being created at the National Park West Coast of Isla Mujeres in Cancun, by artist Jason de Caires Taylor. The sculpture’s being placed underwater are life-size castings of local residents.
The project is being put into place to help conserve natural reefs. “One of the greatest benefits of artificial reefs is that they have lifted the pressure off natural reefs which, over the past few decades, have been over-fished and over-visited,” writes the artist. “By diverting attention to artificial reefs, natural reefs have now been given a greater chance to repair and to regenerate.”
The project began in November 2009 with the placement of 100 statues in the waters of the Cancún National Marine Park, during phase two a total of 400 sculptures are planned to be installed by the end of 2010.
More info: www.underwatersculpture.com