Cabildo President Oswaldo Betancort has said that The Rising Tide, the sculptures by British artist Jason de Caires Taylor, may be returned to the Castillo de San José in Arrecife.
The Rising Tide is a series of sculptures of horses with oil extraction pumps in place of heads. They were originally presented in London in 2015 and later installed at the foot of the Castillo de San José, where they were covered by the rising tide twice a day.
Speaking to Canarias7, Betancort said that he planned a meeting with the de Caires Taylor in early December, and “If we can come to an agreement with the artist, our wish is to put the horses back where they never had to leave.”
Betancort also announced that there were plans to start promoting the Atlantic Museum once gain. The underwater museum consisting of scores of life-sized sculptures was removed from the official list of the island’s tourist attractions at the start of the last island government’s term.
The Rising Tide sculptures have become the focus of a bitter political quarrel in recent years. Commissioned by the ex-Cabildo President Pedro San Ginés, they were removed by the Socialist administration in 2019, who claimed they were only ever meant to be temporary and did not reflect the spirit of César Manrique.
The Atlantic Museum, which was running at a considerable loss, was also removed from the list of CACTS (Cultural, Artistic and Tourist Centres), and certain sculptures of associates of San Ginés who were facing corruption charges were removed.
For regular updates, pictures and videos of Lanzarote be sure to like and follow our Facebook page “Gazette Life Lanzarote”.
