Soneva Fushi is to host renowned Seattle-based glass artist James Mongrain in December.
As part of the Glass Studio’s Featured Artists programme, James will be visiting Soneva Fushi from December 16-27. During his stay, guests can watch the talented artist create beautiful pieces of ornate art at Soneva’s Glass Studio, which uses 100 percent recycled glass collected from empty bottles from Soneva Fushi and surrounding resorts in the Baa Atoll.
“James will be following in the footsteps of his former teacher Lino Tagliapietra, who visited Soneva Fushi in December 2015 under the same visiting artist programme,” an announcement by the resort read.
James is considered to be amongst the greatest glass artists, with an extraordinary mastery of Venetian glass technique, learning early in his career from teachers Maestro Lino Tagliapietra and Checco Ungaro. He has been a nominee for the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award and now leads the glass team at Chihuly Studios.
Soneva Fushi’s Glass Studio’s Featured Artists programme invites a selection of renowned artists to the resort throughout the year. Each artist produces a collection of glass pieces during their stay, inspired by their surroundings at the resort. Past artists include Martin Janecky, Clifford Rainey, Howard BenTre, and Sunny Wang.
Soneva’s Glass Studio was conceptualised as a state-of-the-art facility for resort guests to watch world-renowned glass artists create objects of art, and learn the art of glass blowing. It also includes a retail boutique and art gallery, designed to showcase the work of Maldivian and international glass artists.
Established in 1995, Soneva Fushi is the original Soneva. The No News, No Shoes blueprint for all desert island barefoot luxury hideaways is located within the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Maldives. Soneva Fushi inspires the imagination with 65 spacious beachfront villas, ranging in size from one to nine bedrooms, hidden amongst dense foliage.
The iconic resort has bagged several international awards for eco-friendly tourism and green initiatives, including the 2017 Green Hotelier Award for the Asia Pacific region and the Sustainable Hotel Award by the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) as well as a spot in the Gold List compiled by Condé Nast Traveler China as the Best Hotel in the Maldives and amongst the best resorts in the world in the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards 2017.