The first underwater museum in Europe, Atlantico. World problems against the backdrop of stunning landscapes

In 2017, the amazing Atlantic Museum opened in Colorados Bay on Lanzarote, one of the large islands of the Canary archipelago. The underwater gallery is located on an area of about 2.5 square kilometers. Its exhibits are installed at a depth of 12 to 15 meters – you can get into the exhibition hall only with scuba gear or by purchasing a seat on an excursion boat with a bottom made of transparent material.

What is on display in such an amazing place? The exhibition includes works by British artist and sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor, who spent about three years on the island to create them.

300 full-scale concrete sculptures inspired by the inhabitants of Lanzarote, as well as a 30-meter wall with a gate, now decorate the bottom of the bay, turning the already stunning underwater landscapes into truly fantastic ones.

The main task of the museum, according to its creator, who has already become famous as the creator of underwater parks and galleries, is to raise people’s awareness of ecology, draw attention to environmental problems and give an understanding of collective responsibility for everything that happens on the planet.

In the Atlantico exhibition, each of the 12 installations is extremely symbolic and metaphorical.

Here is the most voluminous one – “Crossing the Rubicon”, depicting a group of people heading towards a gate in a huge wall. Some are buried in a gadget, most have their eyes closed.

Two hundred human figures are laid out in a ring, in several layers. There are women’s, men’s, and children’s sculptures here. People of all ages and social classes are in one continuous cycle.

All museum sculptures are made of very dense PH-neutral concrete, which is practically not destroyed in sea water, but does not harm the environment. The artist plans that over time the entire collection of Atlantico exhibits will turn into an artificial reef, overgrown with algae and inhabited by marine life. Actually, this is already happening – the first installed sculptures are already covered with sea plants, and angelfish, octopuses, menacing barracudas and schools of sardines sometimes swim to look at them.