Beyond The Walls: How Rosewood Baha Mar’s Art Reveals The True Bahamas

30.10.2023 - 09:41 / forbes.com / Daniel Boulud

At first light at Rosewood Baha Mar, arguably one of the most stylish hotels in The Bahamas, the sand is being meticulously raked on the idyllic Cable Beach and, in the kitchens, piles of exotic fruit are being prepared for the countless rum-laced Bahama Mamas which will be served that day: it’s another day in paradise.

On the face of it, with its swaying palm trees, water park and casino, the resort is a fun playground for the many tourists that touch down in New Providence. But, as you pass through its corridors and eat in its refined restaurants – which include Costa, a coastal Mexican cuisine, and Café Boulud which serves French cuisine by noted chef Daniel Boulud – you begin to see that there’s more to this outpost than meets the eye.

From landscapes to portraits, on every wall is an eclectic and inspiring variety of art. Turns out, all the pieces are by Bahamian artists and the diverse selection is eye-opening – so you’ll find quirky drawings of Bahamians, moody photography of windswept beaches as well as thought-provoking paintings which challenge cultural tropes. It is a collection that not only gives guests a true sense of place, but which also serves to open the window into a unique side of The Bahamas that tourists do not often see.

Encompasseing some 100 original pieces in the Rosewood property, the collection has been curated by John Cox, the executive director of arts and culture for Baha Mar and Nassau’s preeminent local artist and curator. Each piece has been chosen, says John, “to inject a sense of authenticity into the resort.”

There’s probably no-one better to have been selected to do the job as curator at Baha Mar, which, as well as Rosewood Baha Mar, also includes Grand Hyatt and SLS luxury resorts and stretches across some 1,000 acres. Born in 1973, John Cox was raised in Nassau and attended the Rhode Island School of Design, receiving a BFA in Illustration and MAT in Art Education. He began his career at the College of The Bahamas, teaching both studio as well as theory courses for over a decade. In 2003, he left to work at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, working initially in museum education, before he became chief curator in 2013. Cox joined Baha Mar in 2014 as the creative arts director, to oversee the resort’s curation, art programming, gallery spaces and exhibits, before recently being made executive director of arts and culture for the whole Baha Mar resort.

As well as Rosewood Baha Mar’s independent collection of art – which includes pieces by John – at the heart of the mega-resort, there is also a standalone gallery called The Current, which additionally holds a vast collection of contemporary art, and one of the largest collections of Bahamian art in the world.