More resorts feature more artistry from local creatives, and some bring these pieces into the villas, but Oaga features a veritable museum of distinctive art in its Veyoge Gallery Pool Villa room category. And if you are looking for an inspired memento of your ‘night at the museum’, you can purchase the pieces displayed. And even if you don’t buy one, your stay benefits the local artists who graced your space:
“Suvāsthi Gallery Art: Revel in the art exhibited on the wall, part of our in-house art collection from Maldivian artists. All the displayed art is acquirable via our Suvāsthi Retail Gallery. Fun fact: For each night spent in this villa, an allocation will be made to the contributing artist community.”
Yesterday, I enjoyed my annual pseudo-escape to the Maldives at London’s 2023 World Travel Market. Their booth is replete with images of the destination’s linen white beaches and tapestry of ocean blues and manned by a platoon of the Maldives’ resort leaders touting its alluring charms to agents, operators and media. I was able to reconnect with long time friends and connections as well as make new ones. In particular, I sat down and learned much more about Brennia Kottafaru, The Standard Huruvalhi, Outrigger Konotta, Movenpick Kuredhivaru, Rahaa and Baglioni (none of which I had ever visited).
The highlight of the event was meeting a contender for “newcomer of the year”, a resort I hadn’t even heard of – Oaga. Or “Oaga – Art Resort” to be precise. And actually, planned to be a 5-property complex built from terraformed reclamation in a North Male lagoon. Oaga is one of the most inspired concept properties I have come across for a while – “Maldivian Artistry”. Not just engaging a Maldivian artist to add some colourful touches to the property, but imbuing the entire DNA of the property with a visual aesthetic. Even their show swag was a piece of art from one of their resident artists (I got the one below done by Rahvehinn). I normally have to visit a resort to identify its truly distinctive touches, but just a short chat with the Oaga folks (including two of their founding directors – see photo above and special 360 photo provided by the Visit Maldives hosts of the booth) came up with a dozen “Best of the Maldives” pieces I could write about. They soft open later this month so keep an eye open.
