Maldives government has ordered Sirru Fen Fushi island resort to remove the world's first inter tidal art museum over a religious outcry in the 100 percent Muslim country.
Environmentalist and artist Jason Decaires Taylorunveiled the installation phase of his latest underwater art museum – titled the 'Coralarium.'
The project is the island’s first coral regeneration project and comprises a stainless steel semi-submerged tidal gallery space that exhibits a series of sculptural artworks on the skyline, inter-tidal waterline and seabed.
An artwork, ecological innovation and statement on the environment combined, the Coralarium is in part an address of the one-degree rise in ocean temperature that is causing devastation to the coral. it features statues formed above ground that incorporate endemic environmental elements: some sculptures have tree trunks for limbs whilst others are embedded with the patterns of corals. elsewhere a series of children looking up towards the surface of the sea pose questions about rising sea levels.
However, the statues led to a public outcry, and government spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali revealed that the government had ordered the tourism ministry to oversee the removal of the museum.
"Tourim ministry has now asked the resort to remove the museum by the end of tomorrow [Saturday]," Muaz said on Twitter.
