MALDIVE INDEPENDENT
The
Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi has been ordered to remove sculptures from a newly built underwater art gallery in the resort’s lagoon. The nearly 30 sculptures were made by
British artist Jason deCaires Taylor for the semi-submerged Coralarium art gallery, the first of its kind in the world. The sculptures were based on casts of real people, about half of whom were from the Maldives. Their forced removal comes after the government faced criticism from religious scholars and opposition politicians who deem human-form sculptures anti-Islamic. The Dhivehi language lacks words for statutes, dolls or monuments and such objects are generally referred to as Budhu (idols), the worship of which is a sin in Islam. [
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| Jason deCaires Taylor is a sculptor, environmentalist and professional underwater photographer. Born in 1974 to an English father and Guyanese mother, Taylor graduated from the London Institute of Arts in 1998 with a BA Honours in Sculpture |
The Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi has been ordered to remove sculptures from a newly built underwater art gallery in the resort’s lagoon. The nearly 30 sculptures were made by British artist Jason deCaires Taylor for the semi-submerged Coralarium art gallery, the first of its kind in the world. The sculptures were based on casts of real people, about half of whom were from the Maldives. Their forced removal comes after the government faced criticism from religious scholars and opposition politicians who deem human-form sculptures anti-Islamic. The Dhivehi language lacks words for statutes, dolls or monuments and such objects are generally referred to as Budhu (idols), the worship of which is a sin in Islam. [More]
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