Lisbon Oceanarium - Forests Underwater

On my last article I wrote about the Lisbon Oceanarium, the way it is organized and what you may see there on the main exhibition, but I didn’t mention the temporary exhibitions that they organize in the secondary building, more specifically Forests Underwater by Takashi Amano. This exhibition is wonderful, truly wonderful. It is aimed, like many of the efforts in the Oceanarium, at the preservation of sea life and it’s habitats, in this case the tropical forests. Amano, known worldwide as a great landscape photographer and the best “aquascaper”, built the main attraction of this exhibition: A naturally growing habitat made by planting aquatic plant life and letting it grow to accommodate various fish species. And it is interesting to see the difference in the plant life from when it was planted, in 2015, to now, and explore the way the wildlife lives amongst the beautiful greenery.

Nature and Peace

Takashi Amano aimed to recreate a piece of nature in this aquarium, using many expert landscaping techniques to let the plants grow naturally while still being visually pleasing, uniting natural forces with the hand of an artist. He also aimed to make the exhibition soothing and calm so that visitors really appreciate the work being presented to them. Amano contacted portuguese composer Rodrigo Leão to create the soundtrack to his work, and Leão delivered a combination of beautiful instrumentation, with an oriental edge, with natural sounds to still keep it connected to the message. And besides the amazing work by two amazing artists, you will also be greeted by a small cascading pond and some informative displays that actually compliment everything very well!

Recommendation

This article is a little shorter that usual, but I found it necessary to do and to separate from the first one. I really loved this exhibition, it was a very relaxing and surprisingly informative experience that I recommend to everyone! The exhibition is temporary but has been in the Oceanarium for three years by now, although it’s because they needed to let the plants grow and, I believe, also due to the fact that Takashi Amano passed away in 2015, this was his last work, and in a way it deserves to stay for a while.

Amano believed that in contemplating nature to better understand life itself, and I do believe that this last work of his truly shows that. Be sure to visit and see/feel for yourselves.