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The National Park West Coast of
Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancun and Punta Nizuc, will feature more than 400 concrete sculpture
figurines comprising the world’s largest underwater museum, right in the
waters in front of Cancun and the island
of Isla Mujeres.
At a cost of more than US $350,000,
the project was created to give the natural reefs the opportunity to
flourish. Approximately 400 sculptures will be sunk within this National Park
on sandy bottoms at different depths. Each piece of art will be
man-sized, with a base of four square meters. There will be theme based
galleries, such as an army of Mayan indigenous warriors and other sculptures
such as the "Dream Catcher" who collects messages in bottles adrift. They
will encourage everyone to send their messages; one of the first messages in
a bottle attached to the above mentioned sculpture reads: "May our hearts,
never become as hard as our heads", by Roberto Diaz A. President of the Cancun Underwater Museum.
"I am excited that this will
become the beginning of the world’s largest underwater museum. This is a
unique opportunity to explore the boundaries of art and combine it with reef
conservation," said Jason de Caires Taylor, British
underwater sculptor of the unique sculptures. The main piece will encompass
between 300 and 400 figures resembling actual living people. Once the main
first phase of the project is completed, other artists will be encouraged to
submit their own sculptures and contribute to this unique museum.
The National Park’s director,
Jaime Gonzalez Cano, calculates that by April 2010 there will be
approximately 250 sculptures in the underwater museum.
"The underwater museum will
draw many visitors, allowing us to give a rest to the natural reefs. It's
like a restoration process", Gonzalez explained.
Upon the opening of the museum, divers will be required to gain experience in
artificial habitats and snorkelers will continue to wear life jackets for
buoyancy to prevent damaging the natural corals and the new artificial
habitats.
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