International Women’s Day: How Maldivian Resort JOALI Celebrates Female Empowerment

It’s International Women’s Day today and we go behind the scenes at JOALI – a unique, female-orientated resort in the Maldives to see how female empowerment is giving its sustainable hospitality an innovative edge.

Owned by one of Turkey’s leading businesswomen – Esin Gural Argat – JOALI, which opened in 2018, is the Maldives’ first and only immersive art resort. The female-owned retreat is rooted in supporting women, from aiding the training of girls in local schools to hiring local women and ensuring its team is structured in a way that encourages female team members to grow and progress.

Found on the island of Muravandhoo, in the unspoilt Raa Atoll, this approach is also reflected in the sensual design concept. The feminine hideaway has nature-inspired touches throughout its villas – with ceiling fans designed to look like the petals of a flower and spacious dressing rooms with gowns featuring the birds and plants seen on the island. Bathrooms have deep free-standing bathtubs and grand marble sinks accented with rose gold and copper taps. Conceived by design studio Autoban and Tokyo-based architects Studio Glitt, the look gives nods to traditional Maldivian crafts juxtaposed with slick, futuristic touches.

JOALI also has a focus on art and sustainable luxury and is known for its experiential works of art and dynamic design – such as the manta ray treehouse and underwater coral reef sculpture – which brings attention to the protection of its pristine environment. The island’s Reef Restoration Project is managed by in-house marine biologist, Martyna Socha, who stayed on the island while the resort was closed during the pandemic last spring and summer.

Furthermore, this year, JOALI is launching its Women in Art Project in collaboration with the Maldives Art Committee, which aims to support and honour female Maldivian artists by promoting emerging talent and showcasing their work. It will also create a platform for the academic development of young female artists in the Maldives. Guests can tap into their knowledge and skills with interactive workshops.

Kicking it off, and marking International Women’s Day, visual artist Maena Hussain is currently at JOALI (until 13 March), giving ceramic art lessons to staff and guests. As well as a talented artist, Maena is the co-founder member and vice chairperson of the Maldivian Artist Community (MAC). Her work examines the beauty of the natural world and focuses on transformation and time, and she often refers to her childhood and its association with nature in profound ways.

Throughout 2021, JOALI plans to regularly host visiting female artists, as well as staging academic workshops for aspiring Maldivian female artists, taught by art teachers from across the globe. JOALI’s guests will be able to participate in these and will be able to purchase works of art created during the programme.

Here, exclusively for Forbes, JOALI’s owner, Esin Gural Argat, talks about the ethos and drive behind JOALI.

What does ‘female empowerment’ mean to you?

To me, female empowerment is feeling as though we have the exact same access to opportunities no matter what our gender or sex. We must all help women around the world have access to equal opportunities, and to also gain the confidence to have their voice heard, and to believe in themselves and in their dreams.

Female empowerment is essential for sustainable development. Equalizing the ratio of women and men entrepreneurs in the world indicates that the global gross national product will increase US$2.5-5 trillion by 3-6%. If women participate fully in the economy on an equal basis with men, there will be a $28 trillion, or 26% increase, in annual global GDP by 2025. Existing data and experiences show that the empowerment of women not only contributes to economic growth, but also has positive and significant effects on raising future generations and family health. The empowerment of women, their participation in the workforce and the development of their self-confidence has the power to have incredible results that will have a positive effect in every aspect. Working on this issue in the Maldives is of huge importance to me.

What do you hope to achieve with the Women in Art project?

First of all, the issue of insufficient representation of women artists in the art world is still a problem that remains valid all over the world. Apart from the developing position and visibility of women in the art world, there are still major systematic problems and dilemmas. One of the best-known museums in the world, has a female artist work rate of 7%. Female artists in commercial galleries are 30% in the United States, one of the leading countries of the art scene. Although 63% of graduating students are women, only 29% of the works exhibited in London’s best-known galleries belong to female artists. This shows that even if the obstacles to women’s access to art education were removed many years ago, the rate in getting the chance to practice the profession is much lower and still moving too slowly.

For this reason, I think this project at JOALI is an important opportunity for women artists to be visible and role models in the Maldives.

Our aim is to celebrate talented female artists around the world and to also provide a platform in the Maldives to educate and support local artists. Unfortunately, there aren’t many opportunities for female artists in the Maldives, and so we have partnered with the Maldives Art Committee to help support education and provide opportunities to raise global awareness of Maldivian female artists.

Are there any differences in how the hotel is run, or in its ethos, given the fact that JOALI is female-owned?

I believe that being female-owned, JOALI has a strong natural ethos, believing in the power of diversity and gender equality. At JOALI, we are strong believers that diversity is a valuable resource – we are particularly committed to gender equality and to the development of talented women in all its entities and at all levels of the organisation. I believe that as a leadership team we are caring and empathetic, and I like to think that we are very unique and dynamic. As a new, modern-thinking and independently-owned resort, we have the ability to think innovatively and revolutionarily.

Does the design of JOALI reflect this female ‘gaze’ and how?

I definitely think so – JOALI’s island design is inspired strongly around being a private home of a super-stylish, creative, intelligent and charismatic woman, who has collected one-of-a-kind pieces of artwork and furniture of the finest quality from across the world and decorated her resort with attention-to-detail and love.

Feminine touches can be found in all the villas – including rose gold bathroom taps with marble sinks, flower-shaped bedroom fans, floral wall carvings and stylish in-villa beach kaftans designed especially for JOALI’s guests by Ardmore, with an intricate grey heron and frangipani design. JOALI’s design reflects different talents of being a woman including our social sensitivity, communication power, our tendency to act with collective mind, and our leadership abilities. The coming together of all of these abilities is reflected in JOALI’s design.

How will you support the UN’s Entity for Gender Equality and HeForShe movement?

We are delighted to have created a Leadership and Gender Diversity Program in line with our commitment to the UN Women’s gender equality campaign and JOALI is committed to supporting training for local girls, hiring local women and supporting female team members to grow and progress. This year, we aim to increase our on-island female employee numbers by 20%. Our goal is to increase this ratio to 50% in a short period of time.

What conservation plans does Martyna Socha have for JOALI?

Martyna is our amazingly passionate in-house marine biologist who is currently running our very special Reef Restoration Project in our on-site coral nursery, which is close to all of our hearts. Martyna is dedicated to nurturing what she calls her ‘fragments of hope’ – tiny corals that she transplants onto the existing house reef to help it regenerate.

Martyna will be further enhancing our Reef Restoration Project this year. In addition to expanding the coral tree nursery, Martyna will be implementing a ‘Coral Table Nursery’. The current tree nursery is a ‘floating’ one and requires the use of scuba equipment. To make coral reef restoration accessible for everyone, a Coral Table Nursery will be implemented in more shallow water. This will help to educate all guests on the importance of the Reef Restoration Project and protecting coral reefs and the ocean on a wider scale. This will also provide opportunities to compare coral performance at various parts of the reef, including shallower parts.

Throughout 2021, Martyna will also be creating a snorkel trail using coral spider frames to help create a reef and attract more marine wildlife. The aim is to create a thriving area for guests to snorkel over, relatively close to shore. Current friendly ocean creatures that grace JOALI’s house reef include manta-rays, nurse sharks, turtles, tropical reef fish and dolphins!

How challenging has it been as a female hotelier in the Maldives – or maybe it hasn’t?

I don’t think I have faced a particular challenge as a female hotelier in the Maldives, however as a new independent hotel launching just over two years ago, the main challenge has been to create a strong brand presence in such a crowded market.

Tell us about the female artist programming and why this is important?

We were delighted to host Maena Hussain as a visiting artist over 2020’s festive period and are so happy to be welcoming her back between the 5-13 March in celebration of International Women’s Day. I believe that is extremely important for JOALI to host female artists from around the world to promote and celebrate their exceptional talent.

What is the USP of JOALI?

One of our key USPs is that we are proud to be the Maldives’ first and only immersive art and design resort with a truly exceptional array of original artworks on display throughout the island for our guests to enjoy. All artworks heavily reflect the beauty of the Maldives’ nature, with messages of sustainability at their core.

What is the best thing about the resort that guests can expect to experience? 

That is a very tough question for me to answer, as I am truly passionate about every single aspect of the resort! I think the best thing that guests at JOALI can experience is pure joy in every element of the resort, ranging from the design, to culinary arts, the team and personalised service, the ESPA spa, to creating special and memorable family experiences. I think that JOALI is really unlike any other Maldivian resort with our attention-to-detail design, style and beautiful immersive artwork dotted around the island and inside each villa. I think this is something that makes it really very special and brings joy to my heart.

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