Soneva has joined the London Art Fair for the first time this year, as part of the luxury resort operator’s focus on its Art and Glass programme.

In a statement, Soneva said it has sponsored the VIP stand at LAF 2018, which is being held from Wednesday to Sunday. An array of glass art works that have been created to date are being showcased at the stand, it added.

“Soneva’s Glass Studio is home to the only existing pieces that [Murano-born Lino] Tagliapietra has created from recycled glass. Guests can also watch the process of how a resort turns waste glass into art pieces whilst Soneva’s team will be on hand to speak to explain the significant role that glass and art will continue to have at Soneva,” the statement read.

Soneva is proud to be home to the only Glass Studio in the Maldives at their flagship resort Soneva Fushi, and uses 100 percent recycled glass.

Soneva sought to resolve the problem posed by waste materials such as glass bottles, and created the Glass Studio as a continuation of Soneva’s commitment to the environment and eco-credentials. Each month, up to 1,000 kilograms of glass is collected from Soneva and neighbouring resorts in the Baa atoll before being washed and delivered to Soneva’s Glass Studio by Eco Centro, Soneva’s Waste-to-Wealth team.

In founding the Glass Studio, Soneva has taken on an entire up-cycling process from start to finish: firstly crushing the glass and melting this in the state-of-the-art glass furnace, before adopting a variety of techniques such as blowing, casting and slumping the glass to create unique pieces of art.

A skilled team of glass specialists at Soneva Fushi also design and create stunning signature bowls, plates and glasses that are used at restaurants across Soneva resorts, and which perfectly complement the culinary vision of the chef teams. Guests can likewise purchase the signature collection from the glass retail boutique.

As part of the Art and Glass programme, Soneva has played host to noted glass artists from around the globe, such as Murano-born Lino Tagliapietra, sculptor Howard BenTre, and Venetian glass Master James Mongrain. Throughout their stay, each artist has been commissioned to create breath-taking artworks made entirely from recycled glass.

Soneva also champions the sharing of this time-honoured tradition, and the Glass Studio offers courses that teach guests the art of glassblowing. Guests can learn from experienced glass artists the skills required to create their very own masterpieces.

As the Soneva Art and Glass programme grows in popularity, the innovative team has also sought to work with glass in ever-changing ways.

Last year, Soneva Fushi created an inspired ‘Cooking With Glass’ dining experience, where top chefs collaborated with the resort’s Art and Glass Studio’s master glass artists: combining fine dining and glasswork for the very first time. The culinary adventure involves creating incredible dishes by cooking with molten glass, and guests are invited to take home the completely individual glass pieces forged with each course as mementoes.

A video of this event went viral on social media last year.

Soneva, a world-leading luxury resort operator, runs two resorts in the Maldives, Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani.

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.

Opened in December 2016, Soneva Jani is Soneva’s newest property and its second resort in the Maldives.

Soneva Jani encompasses a collection of 24 overwater villas and one island villa set in a 5.6 kilometre private lagoon located in the northern Noonu atoll. The resort spans five islands surrounded by pure white beaches, covered in rich tropical vegetation, offering the ultimate in privacy and luxury.

Each of the resort’s multilevel water villas has its own private pool and a retractable roof that allows guests to sleep beneath the stars. Many villas also have slides that transport guests directly from the top level into the lagoon below. Other hotel highlights include a spa, an observatory — home to the largest telescope in the Indian Ocean — and an outdoor cinema.

Since its opening, Soneva Jani has created a lot of buzz amongst luxury travellers with its exciting features such as the retractable roofs and the water slides. It has been named the Best Over-the-Top Luxury hotel of the year by Jetsetter.com, the best new resort in the world by CNN, and the Leading Luxury Hotel/Resort in South Asia and Leading Luxury Hotel/Resort in Maldives.