In a bid to raise awareness for threatened ecosystems and encourage rehabilitation, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and other parts of the Queensland coast are getting an underwater museum.
Named the Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA), the idea came about from British sculptor and environmentalist Jason deCaires Taylor, who is committed to showcasing partially and fully submerged sculptures and installations that will eventually become sites for the regeneration of marine life and coral.
An underwater museum is being installed at several areas of QLD ‘s coastline, as a way of encouraging the regeneration of marine life and coral.
The first installation is set to be underway in December, and will be an entirely solar powered sculpture of an Indigenous girl, who will be on show during low tide and underwater at high tide. It will be a visual warning of the dangers of climate change, showcasing temperature charts of the reef in real time, via data from the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Taylor was has been creating underwater sculptures for over a decade, and was the mastermind behind the world’s first underwater sculpture park, Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park and Museum in Grenada. He has a passion for integrating marine conservation in with his work and aims to remind people of the sacredness of the ocean.
A statement on the museum’s website says:
“We call it a museum for a very important reason. Museums are places of preservation, conservation and education. They’re places where we keep objects of great value to us, where we value them simply for being themselves.”
The artworks will appear at several locations along Queensland’s coast, including Magnetic Island, John Brewer Reed, Magnetic Island and Townsville. Other installations include a greenhouse for up to 2000 different coral species.
The museum has been funded by national and local government alongside corporate partners James Cook University, The Australian Institute of Marine Science and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
