Ahead of its spring 2027 opening, Wynn Al Marjan Island has shared a preview of its extensive collection of art, antiquities and artefacts.
The collection will be on show throughout the Ras Al Khaimah resort’s public spaces, guest areas and rooms, with highlights including a 66-million-year-old triceratops skull and a specially commissioned sculpture by British artist Marc Quinn, Light Into Life. The collection also features a 17th-century, 10-metre wool-and-silk tapestry, with counterparts held at theLouvre Museum in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
“Wynn Al Marjan Island’s approach to art goes far beyond acquisition. Beauty is a universal language, and by integrating art into the fabric of the resort, Wynn invites guests to discover these pieces in an informal yet engaging and meaningful way,” says Todd-Avery Lenahan, president and chief creative officer of Wynn Design and Development. “Too often, art becomes forgettable when presented as formal or static. We take the opposite approach, designing moments that encourage engagement across every age and background.”
The hotel hopes to create an “immersive Living Gallery experience built around one of the region’s most significant private art collections” with works that span pre-history, ancient, Victorian, Old Master, natural-world and Orientalist periods. During a tour of the Wynn Las Vegas in September, Lenahan told The National that he was acquiring work for Wynn Al Marjan Island by attending art and antiquity auctions.
There will also be pieces brought in from Wynn hotels internationally, including Jeff Koons’s large-scale Tulips, which was displayed at Wynn Las Vegas, and a Jaume Plensa sculpture from his Secret Garden series, which was most recently exhibited at Encore Boston Harbour. Demonstrating the breadth of the eclectic collection, a quartet of 18th-century Buccleuch vases, originally on show at Wynn Palace in Macau, and a Victorian cut-glass console and mirror from Wynn Las Vegas, will also be on display.
According to a statement from the hotel, part of the curation aims to "reverse a journey of 19th-century Orientalism" by returning historically significant works by western artists to the region that inspired them.
“There is an extraordinary cultural legacy in this region,” says Lenahan. “Its influence on the great Orientalist painters and explorers is profound. They were captivated by the depth of the culture, the poetry of the landscapes and the spirit of the people.
"This region didn’t just inspire art, it shaped it. These works deserve to be contextualised with accuracy and respect; they are not decorations; they are the foundation of a living gallery. We built a resort around the art, not the other way around. It is architecture in dialogue with culture, carefully curated so that every space tells a story that resonates, educates and elevates.”
These works include works by 19th-century French artists Gustave Guillaumet and Rudolf Ernst. Guillaumet's Caravan in the Desert depicts a caravan of camels in the Sahara desert, while Ernst’s Entering the Temple is part of a series of works depicting Islamic culture across North Africa, Turkey and Egypt.
The collection will also include works by contemporary artists from the region, including Algerian artist Faiza Maghni. Her works will be displayed primarily in rooms and suites.
Of the in-room art, Lenahan says: “Every artwork carries intention, nothing is gratuitous and nothing is placed for decoration alone. Every piece of art across the resort, whether in a room or within a public space, has been commissioned specifically for its place in the resort.
"We are not only collectors; we are patrons. A resort of this calibre is a home for both established masters and tomorrow’s names.”
Wynn Al Marjan Island is preparing to open in Ras Al Khaimah in spring 2027.
The property will be the UAE’s first gaming resort, having secured the country’s first gaming licence last year. It is expected to significantly boost tourism in Ras Al Khaimah.
The resort will have 1,217 resort rooms, 297 Enclave suites, plus two Royal Apartments, four Garden Townhomes and 10 Marina Estates, and will ascend 305 metres above sea level, across 70 storeys. As the top-10 list of tallest hotels in the world stands, this will place the hotel in eighth place, above the Address Beach Resort in Dubai, which is 301 metres.
As well as a spa, salon, 22 restaurants, shopping and a theatre, it will have 360-degree water views, a marina and 420 metres of private beach.
