Artist creates under the sea museum

  • 06/04/2016
(ITV News)
(ITV News)

Imagine this: an underwater sculpture park in sparkling blue Atlantic waters, off the coast of Lanzarote, with more than 300 cement statues standing on the sea bed.

But you'll need some diving gear to see them when this "sea museum" opens next year.

Enchanting if not a little eerie, beneath the waves on the ocean bed is a carefully curated exhibition.

The beauty of the sculptures is clear but their messages, based on real people, is a little darker.

One wreckage of a migrant boat aims to highlight the current refugee crisis. Another of children sailing on oil drums depicts our dependency on fossil fuels.

Behind it all is British artist Jason Decaires Taylor. The museum has been more than two years in the making, and is now open to visitors with diver tour guides.

Taylor submerged 400 life size sculptures off the coast of Mexico in 2010 and they've formed an artificial reef and new home for sea life.

The aim is part art, part conservation -- for the statues to eventually form part of their surroundings.

Installing the exhibitions took enormous energy and skill and viewing them will take some effort too.

But it seems unquestionably worth it for a unique view of the world.

ITV News