FINOLHU MALDIVES LAUNCHES ‘A YEAR IN COLOUR’ 2026, A BOLD ART & DESIGN RESIDENCY PROGRAMME

FINOLHU MALDIVES LAUNCHES ‘A YEAR IN COLOUR’ 2026, A BOLD ART & DESIGN RESIDENCY PROGRAMME

Finolhu Maldives Unveils ‘A Year In Colour’ 2026, A Design-Led Celebration of Art, Creativity, and Island Life

There are resorts that decorate themselves with art, and then there are resorts that live inside it. Finolhu Maldives belongs firmly in the second category.

For 2026, the Baa Atoll favourite, and the Maldives’ first Design Hotels member, is launching A Year In Colour, an ambitious, year long Art & Design programme that positions creativity not as an add-on, but as a defining experience of the island itself.

Running from January through December, the initiative brings together a rotating roster of internationally acclaimed artists, designers, and creative thinkers from the U.S., U.K., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Each will take up short-term residence on the island, developing bespoke projects, leading hands-on workshops, and staging intimate exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art, travel, and community.

It is a move that feels entirely natural for Finolhu. Known for its playful spirit, bold palette, and relaxed approach to luxury, the resort has long championed colour, design, and self-expression. A Year In Colour formalises that philosophy into a structured programme, turning the island into a living, evolving studio.

As Steven Phillips, General Manager of Finolhu and .Here Baa Atoll, Seaside Collection Resorts, puts it, “As the Maldives’ first Design Hotels member, Finolhu has always championed creativity as a cornerstone of our identity. The Art & Design Year is a natural extension of that philosophy, celebrating design as a living, evolving conversation between our guests, our environment, and the global creative community.”

For guests, it means something rare in the Maldives, the chance to engage directly with artists, learn new techniques, and take home not just souvenirs, but artworks they have created themselves.

A Creative Calendar That Spans the Globe

Each artist will spend between one and three weeks on the island, responding to Finolhu’s landscape, Maldivian culture, and the shifting colours of the Indian Ocean.

The result is a calendar that moves fluidly between fine art, craft, culinary creativity, ceramics, painting, and photography, while remaining united by one central idea, colour as a language of joy, connection, and expression.

Sarah Stieber

January 4 to 17

Sarah Stieber, U.S.-based Artist

American artist Sarah Stieber opens the year with a burst of colour and energy. Known for her dynamic figurative work and empowering visual language, Stieber’s practice spans murals, tape paintings, jewellery, and interior installations. Her work has appeared on billboards in Times Square, Piccadilly Circus, and even the Duomo in Milan.

At Finolhu, she will lead Tape Painting Workshops, introducing guests to her signature technique using vibrant vinyl tape to create crisp, geometric compositions layered with expressive colour. Designed for all ages and skill levels, the sessions invite playful experimentation inspired by the island’s tropical palette and ocean hues.

Socials, @sarahstieber

February 17 to 22

Chef Janice Wong, Singapore-based Pastry Artist

Few creatives dissolve the boundaries between disciplines quite like Janice Wong. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris and named Asia’s Best Pastry Chef by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, Wong is internationally celebrated for her edible art installations and multi-sensory dessert experiences.

Her residency fuses gastronomy and visual art through hands-on chocolate art workshops for kids, teens, and families. Guests will paint, mould, and sculpt with chocolate, blending colour, flavour, and texture into edible artworks.

The workshops connect to Wong’s central installation theme, an artistic interpretation of Hanifaru Bay, highlighting its UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status. Participants create figurines inspired by manta rays, reef life, and ocean movement, transforming conservation storytelling into something deliciously tactile.

Socials, @janicewongsg

Hussain Ihfal Ahmed

March 26 to April 15

Hussain Ihfal Ahmed (Iffa), Maldives-based Artist

Local creativity takes centre stage with Hussain Ihfal Ahmed, widely known as Iffa. A National Award winner and Visit Maldives 2025 Ambassador, Iffa is recognised for his innovative use of oil, watercolour, sand, and his distinctive coffee paintings.

During his residency, guests can join Acrylic Art Workshops focused on bold, island-inspired scenes, and Coffee Painting Workshops, where instant coffee becomes the primary medium for warm, textured artworks.

The sessions are relaxed, accessible, and deeply rooted in Maldivian culture, offering a gentle, meditative way to connect with place through making.

Socials, @iphpha_gallery

May to September

Md. Nakib Rahman, Finolhu Resident Artist

Across the summer months, Finolhu’s in-house creative team collaborates with emerging Maldivian artists under the guidance of resident ceramicist Md. Nakib Rahman.

Nakib’s practice explores the relationship between earth, water, and form. His wheel-thrown and pinch-technique vessels echo sea-worn stones and coral structures.

His Earth & Ocean Workshops invite guests to slow down, shape clay by hand, and embrace a mindful approach to making. Each piece becomes a personal expression of patience and presence, a quiet counterpoint to the high-energy colours found elsewhere in the programme.

Matthew Williamson

October 21 to 31

Matthew Williamson, U.K.-based Designer

The most recognisable name in the 2026 line-up, Matthew Williamson brings his kaleidoscopic world of colour and pattern to Finolhu through an exclusive collaboration and guest workshop.

First emerging at London Fashion Week in 1997, Williamson built an international reputation for exuberant prints and joyful maximalism before evolving his brand into interiors and lifestyle. Today, his studio designs spaces around the world, always anchored by colour as emotional experience.

At Finolhu, guests can join Williamson for a painting workshop focused on one of his favourite motifs, the palm tree. Working in an abstract, contemporary style inspired by nature and his surroundings in Deià, Mallorca, Williamson demonstrates how to create a simple, effective artwork that guests can wrap, pack, and take home.

“I look forward to sharing my techniques of how to make a simple, and effective artwork as a take home momento for the guests at Finolhu,” he says.

Socials, @matthewwilliamson

Yakov Khomich

November 3 to 13

Yakov Khomich, Russia-based Artist

Contemporary artist Yakov Khomich occupies a fluid space between painting, filmic sensibility and emotional abstraction. Based between Russia and France, his work spans oil, spray paint, and mixed media, often depicting dreamlike figures and expressive landscapes.

At Finolhu, Khomich will lead three two-hour masterclasses focused on painting and sketching in the island environment. Guests explore movement, light, and emotional mark-making, balancing guided instruction with intuitive experimentation.

The sessions are designed to build confidence and encourage personal visual language, regardless of prior experience.

Socials, @yakov_khomich

December 20 to January 3

Araceli Adams, International Artist and Ceramicist

Closing the year, Spanish-Australian artist Araceli Adams brings her hand-painted porcelain world to Finolhu. Her work draws on Indo-Pacific biodiversity and the decorative traditions of historic natural history illustration.

Guests take part in porcelain painting workshops, each receiving a half-baked platter pre-sketched with local sea life such as rays, corals, reef fish, and turtles. Participants paint their piece in their own style while learning about the species they may encounter during their stay.

The result is a functional artwork and a meaningful keepsake rooted in place.

Socials, @araceli_adams

Sarah Stieber

The Art Lab, Finolhu’s Creative Heart

At the centre of A Year In Colour is Finolhu’s Art Lab, a barnacle-inspired creative sanctuary designed by KölorGroup Singapore and Muza Lab London in collaboration with Asali Bali.

Since opening in 2024, the Art Lab has become a hub for painting, fabric dyeing, pottery, resin art, and sustainability-focused workshops using natural and recycled materials found on the island. During 2026, it will host residencies, exhibitions, and collaborative projects, functioning as both studio and social space.

The building itself is sculptural and tactile, reinforcing the idea that architecture, art, and experience are inseparable at Finolhu.

A New Model for Creative Travel in the Maldives

A Year In Colour reflects a broader shift in luxury travel. Guests increasingly seek participation over passive consumption, connection over spectacle, and meaning over excess.

By embedding artists into the rhythm of island life, Finolhu positions itself as more than a beautiful place to stay. It becomes a temporary creative village, where conversations happen over paint palettes, clay wheels, and chocolate sculptures.

For the creative-class traveller, this is barefoot luxury with depth, playful, intelligent, and quietly progressive. In a destination often defined by postcard perfection, Finolhu is choosing something more human. Colour, after all, is emotion. And Finolhu is putting it front and centre.

For more information, visit finolhu.com