New Visitor Centre at Cancun’s Underwater Museum

Cancun’s Underwater Museum, the Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), has been a unique attraction in the city for a number of years. A full scale art museum submerged in the waters of the Mexican Caribbean draws snorkelers and scuba divers to witness this one of a kind establishment. But as the Los Angeles Times reports, MUSA has recently opened what it calls a “dry exhibition” for landlubbers.

Cancun’s Underwater Museum

The MUSA Visitor Centre is located in the Cancun Hotel Zone, on the second floor of Kukulcan Plaza. The Centre is free to visit and contains images, films and replicas of a selection of submerged artworks at the museum. It is a perfect stop for those travelers who are interested in the museum, but for whatever reason, are unable to take a diving trip to see it.

MUSA opened in 2009 as way to showcase modern art while simultaneously working to maintain the aquatic ecosystem of the Quintana Roo, the state in which Cancun resides. Pieces in the museum double as both art and home for aquatic life, and include life size human statues based upon Cancun locals, and a full Volkswagon Bug that is designed to house lobsters. The museum’s newest additions by artist Jason deClaires Taylor are eleven sculptures that, according to the artist, “use a form of stainless steel framework and rely on live planted corals to form the narrative and structure of the works.”

MUSA has quickly become one of Cancun’s most popular sites, attracting an average of 87,000 guests annually. According to the chief executive of the Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau, Jesus Almaguer, “The addition of the visitors center will provide tourists a way to enhance their diving experience and to truly appreciate the artistic and ecological impact the museum has.”

To read the original article, head over to the Los Angeles Times. To learn more about MUSA, visit their website here.