DIVING NEWS
Thirty statues that formed part of the Coralarium, the recent installation in the Maldives by British underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, have been destroyed for being anti-Islamic.
Also read: Ocean Sentinels form new GBR dive trail
The installation, half in and half out of the water, had taken nine months to construct and was completed this July at the 5* Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi, in the northern Shaviyani Atoll.
In Islamic law the depiction of human figures can be equated with idolatry, and a civil court ruled last week that the work undermined “Islamic faith, peace and order”.
The resort was given five hours’ notice to remove the statues, and police arrived the next day (21 September) to destroy the 30 lifelike figures, using axes, concrete saws and ropes. The Coralarium structure itself was left intact.
The action appears to have been one of the last ordered by Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, who two days later was ousted by opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in national elections and conceded defeat. Solih, heading a coalition of four parties, won 58% of a vote in which 89% of eligible Maldivians voted.
Human rights group Maldivian Democracy Network described the Coralarium action as a “destructive and desperate” attempt by Yameen to court the religious vote and maintain power, following a five-year rule noted for continuous allegations of corruption and human rights abuses.
Accor Hotels, which owns the Fairmont, had described the Coralarium as “the world’s first semi-submerged gallery”, designed to raise awareness for the need to protect the Maldives’ coral reefs.
Based on a pH-neutral steel frame to offer a habitat for coral growth and colonisation by other marine life, the figures were mounted on top and inside above the surface, while others were submerged beneath it. Day visitors were encouraged to explore the installation as well as guests at the resort.
“I was extremely shocked and heartbroken to learn that my sculptures have been destroyed by the Maldivian authorities at the Coralarium, despite continued consultations and dialogue,” deCaires Taylor told supporters. “The Coralarium was conceived to connect humans to the environment and a nurturing space for marine life to thrive. Nothing else!
“The Maldives is still beautiful, with a warm and friendly population, but it was a sad day for art and a sad day for the environment.”
The prolific sculptor’s work is well-known to divers, principally from his extensive submerged installations in Grenada, Mexico and the Canary Islands.
Coinciding with events in the Maldives his latest work, Nexus, was officially opened in Oslo Fjord in Norway at the weekend. It features 15 sculptures part-floating and part submerged at a depth of 2m to form part of a new children’s art centre called Sjøholmen.
The installation began late last year, and deCaires Taylor said that the sculptures had already been heavily colonised by mussels, shrimps, barnacles and bright orange sea-squirts.
