Fact check: Underwater sculptures created to symbolize unity, aid coral growth, not honor drowned slaves

Dezimey Kum, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Underwater sculpture pays tribute to drowned slaves

On the ocean floor off the coast of Grenada stands an underwater sculpture that online users claim commemorates drowned slaves during The Atlantic slave trade.

"It honors Africans who were thrown/jumped overboard from slave ships during the Middle Passage of the Transatlantic slave trade," reads an April 22 Facebook post, which garnered more than 1,000 shares in three days.

Variations of this claim have circulated since at least 2012.

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However, the sculptures do not represent enslaved people. The sculptures are based on children from diverse backgrounds and symbolize unity and resilience, according to the artist, Jason deCaires Taylor. They were made to aid recovery of the area's ecology in the wake of Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the claim for comment.

The sculptures were not intended as a tribute to the slaves of the Middle Passage

Created in 2006, the underwater sculpture, "Vicissitudes," is not about the Middle Passage, the portion of the Atlantic slave trade in which Africans were forcefully transported across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, according to the artist.

Vicissitudes features a group of children of diverse ethnic backgrounds holding hands and facing out into the ocean. "They are a symbol of unity and resilience [and] an example of how we are inscribed and formed by the nutrients we absorb," Taylor explained on his website.

What appear to be shackles between the figures are actually "structural connections," the site says. It notes the perception of shackles and proximity to the Middle Passage have spurred the widespread interpretation of the work as a slave tribute.

Taylor created the sculpture to contribute to the environmental sustainability of Molinere Bay by providing a habitat for marine species such as corals, algae, and sponges, the site says.

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Taylor is well-known for establishing projects that focus on the human-aquatic ecological interaction.

In a 2015 Ted Talk, Taylor noted the underwater statues are built using pH-neutral materials that "offers a stable and permanent platform, which is textured to allow coral polyps to attach themselves to the sculptures."

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that an underwater sculpture pays tribute to drowned slaves. The sculptures were designed to symbolize unity and resilience, and they include children from diverse backgrounds, the artist said. They were installed to aid in coral growth in the area.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Underwater sculptures symbolize unity, not honoring slaves