The works of Jason deCaires Taylor
In 2016 the alarms went off: the corals of the Maldives caused a notable loss of color due to changes in water temperature caused by the climate change.
According to the UN, "Travel and tourism, largely dependent on reefs, contributes a third of GDP in the Caribbean, for example, and up to 80 percent in the Maldives." How to protect the coral from the same travelers who sustain the country's economy with their investment?
Views of the Coralarium from the air
The awareness campaigns and the declaration of 2018 as the International Year of the Reef have been born to protect coral ecosystem degradation from which the Maldives lives.
And to this we add an installation recently arrived at the Shaviyani Atoll inaugurated by Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi, by Accor Hotels : the artistic installation of Jason deCaires (underwater artist and naturist responsible also for the Lanzarote submarine), a semi submerged museum and rocked by the waves that you can visit as long as go in a swimsuit and willing to get wet for the love of art.
And isn't it counterproductive to encourage these dives if what we want is to protect the seabed?
The path starts from the hotel's Infinity Pool
Precisely, this quirky art gallery It has been built as a project of coral regeneration. Michael Lugt , Manager of Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi, tells Traveler.es that “the facility is specially designed to attract specific kinds of marine life from fish to sea sponges, soft coral, hard coral, crustaceans and octopuses, encouraging life to flourish ”. A museum with a life of its own, literally speaking.
What does deCaires intend with it? “Once you submerge the sculptures, they are no longer ours. As soon as we sink them they belong to the sea and nature is done with them. coralarium is a place of preservation, conservation and education ”, says Jason deCaires in the official press release.
If you are willing to get wet for art, this is your museum
WHAT WILL WE FIND WHEN DIVING INTO COALARIUM?
The museum is an extension of the hotel. You can reach it by a submerged path. After 50 meters swimming or snorkeling l you will find a staircase that will take you to the top of the building between the tide, a perfect starting point to be able to see, from the heights, the magnificence of the atoll.
fourteen sculptures They are distributed at different heights, some of them totally submerged, others at sea level and most, with half exposed, interacting with the sea or the land, at the mercy of the tide.
Fully submerged statues in Coralarium
It all makes sense, since the statues are half human, half plant or coral , tied the legs with roots that join them to the Earth, in an obvious metaphor. Also with corals that link them to the sea, because of that DNA of the Maldives that we must protect.
These beings from the mythology of deCaires have been chosen because they are endemic to the atoll: staghorn coral, banyan fig trees, ivy, pandanus...
The collection is completed with a series of statues of children looking up to the sky . They wonder what the future holds for us and what we can do to avoid the worst forecast.
This is the Coralarium experience
THE CORALARIUM BUILDING, A NEW CORAL
DeCaires focuses on the natural beauty of the atoll, creating a link between resort and destination and launching the message of the great importance of sustainable tourism.
“This art gallery is the environment for guests can live with the natural wonders of the area enjoying the amenities of Fairmont. Art generates amazement, impacts, and at the same time, awareness of our environment”, he continues Lugt.
Semi-submerged statues in Coralarium
The museum is a cube of six meters high with half of its main facade submerged. the design of the walls, porous, leaky , is inspired by the natural structures of coral; those gaps allow the tides and marine life to follow their path and create a protected space inside. In addition, it also projects the rays of the sun that capriciously affect the works inside.
material is stainless steel and tries to generate a reflection of the surface of the sea and the sky, as if it were a mirror. It is expected that over the years it will reflect, rather, the patina of time and the algae that colonize the structure.
The structure is designed to dissipate the forces of the ocean while creating a protected space, encouraging nature to seek refuge here, colonizing it.
A sunset from up here is the pleasure
HOW TO ACCESS COALARIUM?
Lugt confirms: “Access to Coralarium is done in small groups guided by the hotel's resident marine biologist; It will be possible to do it at various times on the same day”.
Reservations can be made by writing to [email protected] or by calling +960 654 8888.
One of the children-statue of Coralarium