For a traditional twist on military-grade training, Kanuhura offers Maldivian Warrior training…
From the extremes of primitive to avant garde, Maldivian artists also excel at classic art forms like oils and etchings. Not surprisingly, that home of the arts, Loama Maldives at Maamigili is an opportune place to sample these masterpieces…
“Loama Art Gallery is affiliated with the National Art Gallery, Maldives, and shows contemporary art from the Maldives. It offers a valuable platform for artists to exhibit and sell their work to a local and international audience. Contemporary art in Maldives has seen significant changes in themes and style over the last few decades. On the Path of a Dream brings together the work of contemporary artists whose diverse and surprising themes examine their innate senses borne while living in the Maldives. These artists have works that span decades and explores their subjects in-depth, visiting and revisiting ideas that form the identity of people inhabiting these islands. Loama Art Gallery aims to hold four exhibitions annually and the current exhibition at the overwater art gallery features five Maldivian artists who we are proud to present”
An this esteemed group is not alone so I have added the new category Tag “Maldivian Artist” to the blog today so you can peruse a virtual exhibition of local mastery.
A summary of the exhibit can be found here.
How do you make a single island into two (not like they need more numbers with 1,900 in the country)? With a canal.
To make it a segregated resort island (since “resort islands” can do things like serve alcohol which “inhabited islands” are prohibited from doing), the original Herathera resort dug a channel to separate the inhabited side of its incredibly long island from the uninhabited side which was being developed in a resort.
Now connected by a handy footbridge (see above), a large portion of the Canareef staff reside on the inhabited staff and walk to work each day. It also provides a the most handy visit to a “local island” as you can simply walk over to visit instead of devoting a whole excursion trip which most resorts offer (the bridge has a security guard to make sure only authorised staff and guest come onto the resort island).
Siamese twin island joined at the bridge.
Long before the Maldives was the ultimate destination of the world’s wealthy; it was the ultimate origination of the world’s wealth. The Maldives was the veritable Fort Knox of the nascent global currency system.
The key to value is scarcity – gold, Bitcoins (based on hard to solve problems) – are all premised by the difficulty of counterfeiting because simply can’t magic up more of the stuff easily. It turns out that one of the earliest forms of currency were cowries shells from the Maldives. They were quite distinctive in shape and look and back in ancient times you couldn’t just waltz over the Maldives to gather up a few more.
Today being National Money Day is an apropos time to check out “Stuff You Should Know” which has a fine good account of Maldives cowrie currency in their podcast “How Currency Works” (mins 9:10 through 6:00 – the counter counts down to time left in podcast…thanks Isley).
I recently highlighted the Maldives’ first archaeologist and one of the subjects she is investigating is this very area. Coincidentally (I means big time “it’s a small world”), Haour and Jaufar explore the links of the cowrie trade between Benin, West Africa. “Benin” is now the name of the county neighbouring Togo to the east, but also the designation for the general area. In Togo’s capital Lomé, I resided at the “Université du Benin” and my residence compound was called the “Village du Benin”.
My time in Togo way back in 1980 was the earliest seeds of Maldives Complete. I was stationed there as an overseas correspondent for a firm doing travel writing. Hence, my initiation into research the obscure and fascinating in exotic destinations.
Below are a few of my mementos from my year there – a cowrie voodoo amulet (top), a cowrie bracelet (middle) and a cowrie money shell (bottom). Maybe these shells from the Grand Marche were my first contact with the Maldives over three decades ago?!
International Museum Day today is a chance to pop down to your local cultural curator. Among the Maldives resorts, the place to go is Loama Resort Maldives at Maamigili. While a number of resorts feature displays of artefacts and heritage, Maamagili has developed a sophisticated museum to showcase an unmatched collection of Maldives masterpieces…
“Loama Museum is the first and only Museum in a Hotel in Maldives licensed under the Government’s Department of Heritage. Our young museum collection spans from the Classical to British Colonial Period. Highlights include artefacts found on the island, items of trade and livelihood from the Early Modern or Colonial Period (1514-1828) and British Colonial Period ( 1828-1965). You will be wowed by an Ancient Bath from the Classical Period (500BCE-1153), Mausoleum foundations from the Medieval Islamic Period (1153-1514). The museum is located at the hotel lobby and extends to the Ancient Bath and a Traditional House which are located at the heritage site. Notable exhibits include Chinese porcelain that could have arrived on this island during the Indian Ocean trade between South East Asia and the Middle East. Other interesting artefacts from the collection, representative of the lifestyle and trade that survived inhabitants of these coral atolls for centuries in the middle of the Indian Ocean, include grain measures, coconut oil and lace making equipment.”
Many pieces in the museum come from Loama’s own archaeological work undertaken during the resort development. Anne Haour, an archaeologist from the Sainsbury Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the UK, writes about this work in blog “Cross Roads of Empires”. She is doing a range of fascinating research studies about the Maldives and did a post on the Loama excavation work titled “Maamigili” (see below).
Well, well, well. It turns out that Kihavah isn’t the only resort island with an ancient and storied water well. Loama Maamigili features a well fit for a king. And it was used for much more than just fetching water…
“Vevu (Dhivehi) or bathing tanks, found on the heritage site, were used as public baths and later for ablution. The actual period of this Vevu is unknown, however sandstone used in construction is evidence pointing to the pre-islamic period. The symmetry of the two wells also suggests it may have been part of a temple.”
Portraits of the Maldives using a more conventional medium are the latest highlight at Hideaway Beach. The décor in their newly launched Deluxe Sunset Beach Villa features commission by Eagan Badeeu…
“Eagan Badeeu is a prominent local artist and Maldivian national treasure, his works mainly focus on abstract or impressionist seascapes and landscapes”
They have an impressionistic feel with a rich texture, colour and light. His work can also be found at Conrad Rangali.
Maldives National Day today. A time to celebrate Maldivian culture and heritage. At JA Manafaru resort, they celebrate it every day of their year with their own “Kakuni Village” exhibition on the island. Many guests are interested what life was like for residents of this exotic place on Earth (before modern civilisation brought its more globally homogenous concrete and plaster)
The display features several reconstructed Maldivian homes…
“A typical traditional house in the Maldives is built here with thatched coconut or palm branches forming the roof of the house which is called Bodruge…It is now very rare to find a house with the badhige (kitchen) as a separate annexure to the dwelling.”
Among other examples of traditional fittings and décor, the village includes…
Happy Thanksgiving!
The American Thanksgiving feast is, as I described yesterday, a feast for food, family and friends. Park Hyatt Hadahaa offers a Maldivian traditional dinner with much the same spirit. Its “Maldivian Family Feast” is presented by a Maldivian host.
It’s not a big buffet for the whole resort island, but rather an intimate gathering. Only 6 guests participate and it has more of a feel like being invited to a Maldivian’s home. A proper home cooked meal with a guided tour of the cuisine and the traditions to “find your way around the table”. What to do with the fish piece in the water and the sauces on offer. All presented at the convenience of your own villa
For the more seafood favouring guests, Hadahaa also offers “Fisherman Dining” ($250 pp) with Maldivian music and food set up also at your villa.
May your day be filled with many blessings and much gratitude.
On Centara Ras Fushi’s island of Giraavaru, the local traditions date back to before the arrivals of the Maldivians themselves. Unlike nearly all resort islands which are developed from uninhabited islands, Ras Fushi’s island had been inhabited for centuries (in general, the bigger islands have more space and resources for habitation, while the smaller dots of land are more attractive to the isolation and tropical isle fantasy seeking tourists). Its ancient inhabitants, the Giraavaru people, maintained a distinct dialect and traditions (see table at bottom).
Their name may have presaged a challenge that all the Maldive islands would one day face with rising sea levels…
“Giraavaru island was much bigger, housing magnificent buildings and temples in those days, as the surrounding lagoon still testifies. Changing weather patterns gradually eroded the bulk of the island, which was once the capital of a proud and civilized people…Giraa means ‘eroding’ in the Maldivian language. It was thought that the island was called ‘Giraavaru’ because it was gradually being eroded away into the sea. It is quite possible that the name proceeded the word. Indeed the word ‘giraa’ may have been coined as a result of the natural calamity that was claiming an important island.”
In the end, it was not the erosion by the sea but by civilization that led to Giraavaru’s end as a distinct entity. Their proximity to the metropolis of Male meant that the population emigrated leaving only a small number of families to few to sustain the island.
Centara Ras Fushi has published an overview of their history here.
|
Giraavaru |
Maldives |
|
|
Settlement |
Original settlers of Maldives |
Came later in 11th century |
|
Divorce |
Forbidden |
Liberally permitted under Islam |
|
Hair |
Tied in a bun on left-side |
Ties in a bun on right side |
|
Jewellery |
Worn |
Not worn |
|
Government |
Headed by women |
Headed by men |
|
Language |
Same addressing to all |
Different addressing to superiors |