There's a new face behind the bar at Eri Maldives — technically eight faces, plus a bow tie and a pair of sunglasses. The resort's beachside bar, Beach Shack, has just been transformed into a giant mural by Maldivian artist Ismail Maaish, and the star of the piece is a dapper octopus shaking cocktails surrounded by schools of fish. It's the first instalment of the resort's new Beach Shack Artist Takeover series.
The mural was painted live over a single weekend, with guests invited to watch Maaish work and talk through his process as it unfolded. He's an interesting pick: trained in architecture and fluent across ink, watercolour, acrylic and large-scale murals, his work blends precise structure with loose, expressive characters. His themes lean heavily into Maldivian folklore, island life and national identity — which is exactly what he aimed for here. In his own words, the idea was to lift the energy of the house reef above the waterline and create something playful and distinctly Maldivian.
The octopus isn't a random choice either. It echoes the plush octopus character that waits for guests in their villas on arrival, tying the artwork into the resort's wider identity. And the location matters: Beach Shack sits beside one of the island's most popular stretches of reef, so the art is literally a portrait of what guests have just been snorkelling past.
The project runs under the KULA Initiative from parent company Pulse Resorts, which exists to give local artists a platform and keep Maldivian creativity and heritage visible in contemporary resort life. General Manager Haroon Mohamed framed it as an expression of the resort's 'Island of Becoming' concept — nature sparking creativity, and experiences opening the door to connection. The takeover series is designed to evolve, with more artists and creatives invited to reinterpret the venue through their own medium in future rounds.
For travellers, this is part of a broader and welcome shift in the Maldives: resorts moving beyond imported entertainment and putting local artists, stories and craft at the centre of the guest experience. If you're the kind of traveller who likes your beach holiday with a bit of culture attached — or you'd rather buy into a place that champions Maldivian talent — a stay that coincides with one of these takeovers adds something a standard sundowner can't. Worst case, you get a very good octopus mural as the backdrop to your evening drink.
Story first reported by Breaking Travel News.
