This is what the works of the Aquatic Museum in Cannes will look like

Visual artist Jason deCaires Taylor (right) with Maurice Merenda, one of his six models -

• The first French underwater museum by the English artist Jason deCaires Taylor will be immersed at the end of November off the Lérins Islands, in Cannes.

• The faces of six Cannes residents will evolve for very long years with the aquatic flora and fauna of the Mediterranean.

At first, he believed in a "galéjade".

But by discovering his cement double, which he "recognized only after a few moments", Maurice Merenda understood that it was not a joke.

The face of this former fisherman of “almost 80 years”, in an XXL and stylized version, will soon rest on the seabed, between the two Lérins islands, off Cannes, a priori for eternity.

Like those of five other inhabitants of the city of festivals with him, also chosen and directed by the English plastic artist Jason deCaires Taylor.

These sculptures, two meters high and nine tonnes each, were made across the Channel from casts made in 2018 on 48 volunteers.

By the end of November, the Briton will install these six “masks”, within reach of a swimmer, to form his very first “submarine ecomuseum” in France and even in the Mediterranean.

"Ask the man about his relationship to the sea, in danger"

A certainty, after four long years of procedures for the city of Cannes, which unveiled this Friday with the artist, the sculptures of this extraordinary exhibition.

As revealed by

, in June 2019, the artistic project was notably retested by the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing (Dreal).

Before being finally accepted on a new site.

A similar project in Marseille finally saw the light of day in September after several twists and turns.

Accustomed to very remarkable installations in the four corners of the seas of the world, Jason deCaires Taylor says he was inspired by the “masks that we wear at the Cannes Film Festival” and also by the man in the iron mask (imprisoned in his time on Île Sainte-Marguerite) for the form of its new exhibition on the Côte d'Azur.

“I didn't expect masks to have this importance today,” he quipped.

Basically, "the idea is to question man on his relationship to the sea, in danger", he explains.

Each face has two sides: "one tells about resilience" and "the other about the vulnerability of the marine environment".

With holes in the cement (with neutral pH), like scars, where the flora and fauna of the Mediterranean will be able to settle even more easily.

"To offer a new refuge to underwater life"

The installation site, a few meters from the shore, opposite the residence of the Grand Jardin, to the south of the island of Sainte-Marguerite, is "strongly anthropized and degraded", indicates the town hall of Cannes, which hopes to "offer a new refuge for underwater life ”.

"These sculptures will be reefs which will be gradually colonized", evolving and changing colors over the years, recalls the LR mayor of Cannes David Lisnard.

Anouk, 9, poses next to his cement double - F. Binacchi / ANP / 20 Minutes

The overall cost of the project, estimated at 300,000 euros, will be borne in particular by a network of sponsors.

"The rest will be taken from the budget of the city's ports," said the elected official.

For an exhibition that we announce eternal.

Not enough to really impress Anouk, 9, the youngest of the six models whose face will be submerged.

“It feels weird.

I will still go and take a look at the sculptures every summer, ”she says.

Culture

After a false start, green light for the "first underwater museum in France" in Cannes

Planet

Monumental faces in the bay of Cannes ... The first "submarine ecomuseum" in France is being prepared

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