Crisp air. Cold mountain hush. The onset of summer, yet the sun seemed to have forgotten this corner of the Himalayas. In Mukteshwar, we arrived at jüSTa Mukteshwar Retreat & Spa just as Chitrashaala took over the property recently. Nearly 50 artists from across the world gathered here for a residency — rooms turning into studios, terraces into conversation pits, the valley into a living canvas. Some worked purely from imagination; others stood before the sweeping Kumaon landscape, translating its silvery light and cedar-lined horizons into paint. Over a week, the hotel became a self-contained creative ecosystem, with food, stay and logistics taken care of — so, the artists could simply create and connect. The works born here do not remain confined to the hills; they travel onwards, finding permanent homes across jüSTa Hotels & Resorts nationwide, extending the residency’s afterlife into other spaces and cities.
This idea — of hotels as patrons rather than passive collectors — is unfolding across India in thoughtful ways. In Bengaluru, the JW Marriott Bengaluru Prestige Golfshire Resort & Spa proves that a golf destination can also be a cultural one. Beyond its manicured greens lies a full-time gallery curated by Sublime Galleria. Here, art is not restricted by the usual time constraints of conventional galleries. It is always on display, always available to be absorbed at leisure — perhaps between breakfast and a spa appointment — and crucially, available for purchase. The experience becomes unhurried, democratic, woven into the rhythm of a stay.
Further south, in Kochi — where conversations right now often circle the spectacle of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale — The Artiste Kochi in Maradu offers a more intimate counterpoint. The beautifully designed property houses a single-corridor gallery that one must pass through to reach the elevators, making art an unavoidable, daily encounter. Showcasing and promoting local artists, the gallery remains open all day and the hotel frequently organises walkthroughs with the artists themselves, collapsing the distance between creator and viewer. In these properties, art is not ornamental. It evolves, rotates, expands. All three properties have curated artworks on display, all year through.