A few fathoms from this French island, we come face to face with gigantic faces submerged underwater…
There are totally unusual places in the seas of our globe where there are astonishing sculptures visible only underwater. This is the case of the Christ of the Abyss by the Italian sculptor Guido Galletti which rests in the bay of San Fruttuoso in Italy and whose copy is in the bay of the island of Key Lardo in Florida, of the mermaid Amphitrite and of the Guardian of the Reef by the Canadian sculptor Simon Morris, submerged off the coast of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean Sea, or the 500 human-sized sculptures by the Englishman Jason deCaires Taylor, which rest in the depths of the underwater museum of Cancún in Mexico … All these works created by the hands of man aim to support the preservation of the oceans.
Since 2021, off the coast of Cannes, an underwater ecomuseum, the first underwater museum in France and the Mediterranean conducive to “recolonization” by fauna and flora, allows you to admire the underwater works of Jason deCaires Taylor, this world-renowned sculptor who extended his works from Cancun to the Bahamas via Lanzarote, Oslo and Grenada. About a hundred meters from the southern shore of Sainte-Marguerite Island, one of the natural jewels of the Bay of Cannes, visitors dive between 3 and 5 meters deep, with snorkel and fins, to admire 6 statues 2 meters high weighing 10 tonnes each, created by the British artist…
These astonishing masks, molded from the faces of anonymous Cannes residents, men, women or children aged 7 to 78, rest in the shallow waters of a sandy area reserved for swimming and protected from anchoring by boats. Equipped with his diving maskLhe visitor just has to open his eyes wide to find these works of art located at a distance ranging from 84 to 132 meters from the shore. The sculptures, made from a specific marine material (a mixture of marine cement, pH-neutral concrete produced from sand and micro-silica, all reinforced with fiberglass) lend themselves to the aesthetic of decomposition , rebirth and metamorphosis. In fact, they become a refuge of choice for the algae, shells and fish that come to settle there.
It is a real boon for the people of Cannes to be able to enjoy this surrealist place, which allows you to admire the work of the artist committed to the protection of underwater environments, a former diving instructor who became creator of the largest museum of underwater sculptures in the world in Mexico. Accessible to all free of charge, the Cannes underwater ecomuseum offers a unique experience in the magnificent clear waters of the Lérins islands, while raising awareness of the protection of ecosystems.