Statue of Liberty, Big Ben models in underwater art show to raise climate change awareness

A Swedish art project aims to create an underwater city of the world’s most famous buildings to highlight the threat from rising sea levels

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A model of London’s Big Ben made of scrap recovered from the sea around Stockholm, Sweden, by Hands2Ocean is lowered into position for the group’s underwater art show, “Atlantis”. Photo: Instagram/hands2ocean

Published: 5:16pm, 18 Mar 2025

Defiantly flipping off both middle fingers, a mermaid made of recovered metal scraps with hair fashioned out of red plastic tubes was lowered into murky green waters outside Sweden’s capital Stockholm on a recent windy spring day.

Made to look like The Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale – with a nod to Disney’s 1989 adaptation – the sculpture is joined underwater by artworks inspired by famous landmarks from around the world, including the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer and the Statue of Liberty in New York.

They are all part of the “Atlantis” art project, which aims to “create an underwater city of the world’s most famous buildings”, project manager Fredrik Johansson says.

All the sculptures are made from scrap recovered by his organisation Hands2Ocean, which picks up rubbish dropped in the waters around Stockholm.

The recreation of The Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. Photo: Instagram/hands2ocean

Johansson says that in the six years he has been doing Hands2Ocean, they have collected 43 tonnes (42.3 tons) of batteries, 44 tonnes of electric scooters, 180 tonnes of tyres and more. In total, the organisation has picked up 400 tonnes of scrap.

But the Atlantis project mainly seeks to bring attention to the threat posed by rising ocean levels.