Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans is an ongoing street art festival taking place in the island of Cozumel, in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The street art festival, on its second installment this year, was created by PangeaSeed, an international organization that collaborates with internationally renowned artists and environmental activists to raise public awareness and education surrounding the conservation and preservation of oceans and marine life. By creating large-scale murals the festival hopes to focus attention on various pressing environmental issues the oceans are facing and promote the importance of long-term sustainability of natural resources. The festival will also economically benefit the small island by bringing in tourists, given that tourism is the main economy of Cozumel.
This year PangeaSeed invited 30 world-renowned contemporary artists from across the globe to take part in Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans.
This work-in-progress by the Brazilian street art duo composed of Renato and Douglas denunciates the huge plastic pollution found in our oceans. Photo credit
This piece entitled "The Spear Fisherman" by renowned Australian street artist Fintan Magee depicts two local spear fisherman. Since an invasive species of lion fish has arrived in the Caribbean it has caused extensive damage to the coral reefs that surround the islands. Mexico now has opened up a number of of its national marine parks to fishing on the proviso that the fishermen only catch the lion fish and only use spears to ensure other native species are not harmed by the fisherman. The program has seen a dramatic decline in lion fish numbers. The spear fishing practice has also become a local staple of the fishing economy with lion fish being served in most restaurants and now being exported to the U.S. Photo credit
Mural by British artist Phlegm in SeaWalls 2015. Photo credit
Argentinean muralist Franco Fasoli JAZ made this giant mural depicting the practice of harvesting sharks fins for soup. Photo credit
This mural of a young woman walking in the water amongst the crops, and surrounded by a fabric bearing the Mexican colors, was made by Argentinean artist Ever. Photo credit
This mural is a collaboration between Tristan Eaton and The London Police. Photo credit
A portrait of the renowned oceanographer and deep ocean explorer Sylvia A. Earle. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and was named by Time Magazine as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998. This mural was made by American artist Allison Torneros aka Hueman. Photo credit
Some Artworks from Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans 2014
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