Inclusive Art In Exclusive Settings

Will Peninsula Hotels’ new rolling global programme mark a shift in the way we view and perceive art?

- Dominic Ellis

In the shadow of The Ritz-Carlton Dubai International Financial Centre – whose five-star walls and public spaces are, appropriately, lined with artworks – an al fresco discussion is taking place on the Royal China Dubai terrace about the changing relationship between art and hotels as part of Peninsula Hotels’ new Art in Resonance programme.

General managers from across Peninsula’s network are lined along the side, ostensibly to meet customers on a regional tour, but their presence certainly lends weight to the importance attached to this new initiative.

Normally when hotels embrace art it’s either for ‘decorative’ purposes or part of a transient exhibition. Peninsula is taking a different approach – entirely funding the commissions and exhibitions in an international ‘multi-year agreement’, and introducing them in hotels globally.