Cancún Underwater Museum (MUSA) ,Mexico
Cancún Underwater Museum (MUSA) ,Mexico
MUSA will add to its master collection very soon.Diaz Abraham said they’re ready to sink four statues, located in the roundabout at Km. 5 of Kukulkan Boulevard, across from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat).
The pristine waters of the Mexican Caribbean are more than just the home of the Great Mayan Reef, the second largest barrier reef in the world, they also play host to the largest underwater museum in the world, known as MUSA. Located in a national park called "Parque Nacional de la Costa Occidental de Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancun, y Punta Nizuc", MUSA is just a 20 minute ferry ride away from Cancun. The museum has been designed with a number of objectives in mind. The protection of the reef is the main reason, but the spot also serves as a fantastic place to scuba dive and snorkel, along with the obvious positive impact of the promotion of ecotourism in the Mexican Caribbean. The creators hope that the artificial reefs attract swimmers, and emphasize the environmental impact on the indigenous coral structures. This ambitious project combines conservation and art to offer visitors a visual masterpiece, featuring a variety of complex structures that can house and hide algae, fish, and colonies of marine coral.
Why visiting MUSA?
FOR ITS ARTISTIC QUALITY
Three galleries have been created, two underwater and one on land. MUSA obtained a permit to sink 1,200 structures in 10 different areas within the National Marine Park. So far only two have been developed, Manchones reef with 477 sculptures and Punta Nizuc with 23 structures. A new installation by Cuban sculptor Elier Amado Gil, Blessings, is to be placed in a new gallery called Chitales. Snorkelers, scuba divers, and tourists can visit the underwater exhibits via a glass-bottom boat.The third exhibit room is on shore in a mall, Plaza Kukulcán, with 26 replicas and one original ceramic sculpture by Roberto Díaz Abraham, The Ocean Muse.
NATURE AND CONSERVATION SURROUND MUSA
Depending on the season, the fish take advantage of the sunk sculptures so they can “deposit their eggs because there aren’t that many protected places,” he said. “Then they look for a place to defend or protect themselves from predators. And they look for shade because there’s a tremendous amount of sun, even under the sea.”Also, when other marine creatures occupy all the natural sea covers, the fish use the MUSA statues as additional shade.
BRAND NEW STATUES COMING UP
“We’ve already prepared 14 other sculptures that we’ll be transferring toward the roundabout at the end of February, and then we’ll be preparing to sink them in March,” he said.Among the works will be “The Live Tree”, sponsored by a non-nautical company, along with “Itzamná”, the name of the Mayan god of sky and dew.“And we’re talking about ‘Birth of a Star’, which is a phenomenal piece: five spikes holding up family units where five characters are holding hands,” Diaz Abraham said. “We’re paying small tribute to Mexican muralism: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros. They’re beautiful sculptures.”Plus, “AquaWorld has three works whose locations are pending: ‘Rest’, ‘Do It’, and ‘False Idols’. They’ve been ready for more than a year,” he added.
Comments
Post a Comment