Monumental Venini sculpture in the MSC Foundation Centre on MSC Seascape is inspiring cruise guests with the magic of the sea

Focus Area: Education and Environmental Conservation

During the naming ceremony of MSC Seascape in New York, the Foundation had the pleasure of opening a dedicated onboard MSC Foundation Centre distinguished by an extraordinary four-deck high sculpture installation called Incanto del Mare - Magic of the Sea. Designed by Monica Guggisberg and Philip Baldwin, who conceived the monumental sculpture Danza del Mare on sister ship MSC Seashore, Incanto del Mare is 12 metres high and 3.8 metres in diameter. Rising from deck 5 through to deck 8, it is surrounded by a mirror wall and lit by a spotlight in its base to proliferate the light and colours of an immersive underwater world. As a work of art, the creation symbolises the MSC Foundation’s dedication to protecting and promoting the natural environment of which we are a part and upon which we all depend.

The work extends vertically with a central body that gives it structure, formed of ten cables attached to the ship's decks at either end, while being shaped and tapered in the centre. Each cable is like a string of pearls made up of blown glass spheres and curved cones in deep Venini sea colours: Indigo, Grape, Rio Green, Aquamarine, Horizon and Sapphire. This structure is wrapped in crossed helical cables, festooned with decorative glass creations that surround the central body with families of Coral, Anemones, Starfish, Seaweed and Fish that rise from the waters to the air in a horizon of Birds and Clouds.

The design uses the magical, fluid medium of glass to recreate the flowing seas and everything in them, animal, vegetable and mineral. The immense depth and expanse of the sea, covering 71% of our world’s surface, is contained in the imagery of the sculpture, in its great height and the density of its contents, as if it were the sea itself in a soaring prism of charged elements in constant motion. Partly an image of Earth’s lungs, partly an image of Earth’s nutrition and partly an image of simple beauty, it symbolises the sea’s indispensable role in our and our planet’s wellbeing. We are dependent upon it. It is not dependent upon us.

And yet, in its airy intricacy, the sculpture also conveys the fragility of the seas and how all ecosystems exist in a delicate balance which must – for our own health as well as theirs – be respected, maintained and nurtured. That is the deep underlying message of this work of art, reminding and inspiring all of us to treat water and its teeming life with the greatest respect and honour. Given the beauty and abundance of everything it offers, how can we fail to do so?

MSC Seascape is the perfect location for the sculpture, bringing its message of care for the sea to thousands of voyagers as the ship sails immersed every day in the wonders of the world’s oceans and seas.

MSC Foundation Executive Director Daniela Picco explained: “Our vision is to restore the critical balance between people and nature within a generation, focusing in particular on the environmental protection and conservation of aquatic and marine ecosystems. Venini and the MSC Foundation share a deep love of the sea and mutual commitment to protecting it, expressed in this extraordinary second monumental sculpture for the MSC Foundation Centre on an MSC Cruises ship. Located at the heart of MSC Seascape, the sculpture installation “Incanto del Mare” will send a powerful message of care for the sea and our planet to thousands of voyagers every year, evoking the beauty and fragility of sea.”

Silvia Damiani, President of Venini and Vice President of the Damiani Group, added: “In the course of our one hundred years of history and passion, Venini has preserved and interpreted a unique artistic heritage that has its origins in 13th-century Venetian culture, creating distinctive works that combine the profound knowledge of tradition with the allure of contemporary tastes.
Venini is proud to have contributed its expertise and craftsmanship to creating this unique sculpture celebrating the environment and its creatures.”