Shelina Khimji

You are a self-taught artist and also a chartered accountant — how did your artistic journey begin, and how do you balance these two worlds?

I was always found glued to easels in my play school. My teachers noticed this and remarked on it. However, I studied in an era where it was not common to start developing a child in their natural abilities.

As I grew up, we didn’t have art classes in school but I enjoyed drawing in various classes. Creativity was always a part of me, so I took part in theatre arts, school plays, concerts, poems, and anything that was to do with talent.

In my spare time at home, I would be lost in my world weaving a tapestry of all kinds of art. Since I started as a child artist my career spans various creative fields and mediums such as mixed media crafts, fabric painting, paper collage, glass painting, ceramic and clay.

Many a times I got remarks saying I would make a good architect as academically my strength was drawing, math and physics.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t pursue it as I needed an art portfolio and my academic career took its own course. At some point, when the course got too intense, I moved to London to complete it and I forgot all about art.

I rapidly climbed my career ladder and became an audit manager. Years after, there came a point where I was looking for an outlet as a stress buster and to take me to another realm. Throughout those years, I observed that I became strongly drawn to colors, my surroundings, and creativity around me. I would look at paintings and get lost in. the beauty of them. It led me to buy some canvases and colours on the spur as a sudden urge to paint and that is how I discovered my own talent.

In 2009, I created my first acrylic painting and actually exhibited it locally.

As I went along, I used to return home from work and take a few mins or half an hour to draw or paint whatever inspired me.

For a few years, I juggled my full time career with art and participated in exhibitions both locally and internationally such as the East African Art Biennale, The Sketchbook Project, The Coffee Art Project to mention a few.

In 2018, I visited World Art Dubai and I witnessed creativity buzzing all around me. I was like a kid in a candy shop. My dream was to have my own booth at the World Art Dubai.

It pushed me to take a short career break and paint full time and I felt very fulfilled which is why I then decided to freelance professionally.

What does it mean to you to be a Tanzanian artist with a multicultural background that includes Zanzibar, Britain, the US, and the UAE?

Having lived in difference cities, my identity was molded by observing layers of different cultures some of which shaped my personality. This identity became my lens to perceive the world and it influenced my appreciation for different cultures, my artistic style, colour choices and themes.

I began to notice the overlap between my own culture and other cultures so it allowed me to create unique and original works of art that blend different cultural elements and artistic forms cultivating modernism and pushing the boundaries of traditional art forms. I realised in doing so, I could engage with a wider audience creating a platform for cross-cultural dialogue and understanding and bridging cultural divides. This diverse storytelling tradition, has fostered empathy and challenged preconceived notions to reflect an unbiased world weaving cultural complexities.

Since being multi-cultural ingrained in me appreciation of diverse cultures, I realized we needed to preserve culture. My artworks therefore depict fresh and insightful perspectives on identity, heritage and legacies amplifying underrepresented perspectives that get lost in the modern world.

Your work has been featured in exhibitions and publications worldwide. What moments in your career have felt most meaningful or transformative?

In 2020, I registered for a solo booth at World Art Dubai. I took some of my pieces and traveled to Dubai, as the event was scheduled for April 2020, however, I ended up being locked down in Dubai while the exhibition got postponed to October.

I was disappointed but it was then that I came across, a project by Art Painting Lab on lockdown art which they were intending to display as murals all over UAE.

We could do as many pieces as we wanted with the hashtag United Art Emirates. The project unexpectedly became a sensation and every local newspapers featured it.

One day, they put an update saying CNN would feature some artworks and the deadline was in a few hours. I got to work and just made it to submit it in the last minute.

A month later, my artwork was showcased by CNN style marking a massive breakthrough.

I then proceeded with WAD however, it made me feel as if I had bitten off more than I could chew. Since I had a solo booth I had the responsibility to pack and carry all my pieces, fill out a zillion forms, install them, price them, etc. At the end of the show, I realized how transformational it was for my art career since in the process of it, I already had a website, business cards, a professional resume and all that it takes to become a professional artist.

I realized my dream and the icing on the cake was to be featured by Art & Lusso magazine and the National UAE. This led to more features in publications like the Khaleej Times and our local newspaper the Citizen Tanzania to mention a few.

Later, when a UK based TV channel invited me to participate in their live talk show on the topic, art and the purpose it serves, I got a platform to engage with an audience and forge a meaningful connection to create a lasting impression.

I was also approached to paint my very first mural jointly for a play room in the Children’s Cancer Ward at our largest local Governemt hospital, Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam. Since I had not done murals before I took up the challenge as a stepping stone and the fulfilment was overwhelming since I witnessed the joy I brought to all the children who used to play in the playroom while we painted.

Shelina Khimji | Fusion Of Arabic-African Style

How has your experience as a woman shaped your voice and visibility in the art world?

Since my childhood, I have been surrounded by creativity because both my grandmother and my mother were talented. My grandmother was an all rounder, good at crochet, sewing and cooking, while my mum was a dress designer naturally talented in style, colours, interior décor and fine tableware having also inherited cooking skills. I have witnessed their creativity without having to think about stereotyping what women should do as they pursued their passions.

So when I started playing with colours and enjoying creating crafts as a child inspired by them, it never occurred to me that the art world was male dominated. I was a child lost in my own world of storybooks and crafts, building a relationship with myself while pursuing my passion. My mum encouraged me to ensure I do well academically while inspiring my creativity too and today I have a balance of both.

Havinng experienced this in my upbringing, my artworks therefore depicted my inner child, dreams and nostalgia. Eventually I realized, I had been breaking some societal norms because I graduated in an era when women were to be domestic while I was working as an audit manager and pursuing my passion.

When I got recognition in the art world, I sensed the necessity to illustrate my journey and legacy as a woman who can be as domestic as any other woman yet be creative and professional.

This pushed me to create artworks that relate to women, giving voice to the voiceless, and forging paths that will inspire generations to come. Some of the themes I picked were identity, recognition for their hard work and values they have upheld as well as be the force with which they have brought a difference in this world while breaking stereotypical barriers.

It is due to that, I have participated in the Zee Arts Gallery – Art Connects Women on two occasions, where I represented my country, Tanzania among 115 women from different parts of the World as well as Rangi Gallery’s Ode to Women illustrating women in my paintinngs.

Currently, I am a part of a group called AWEDACITY having created my own immersive web3 space exhibiting all my artworks. This year, I was invited by them to attend the Women’s Empowerment Virtual Summit and talk about my art journey.

What drives your commitment to community and social causes, such as cancer awareness and environmental protection?

I believe art is a universal language. It therefore, allows me to use its unique ability to stir a shared sense of humanity despite having diverse cultural backgrounds. I connect with my viewers  to inspire empathy and provoke a dialogue as an instinctive and emotional response. When I feel connected on a deeper level, it gives me a sense of unity and makes me feel my artwork has tremendous power to capture my viewers core beliefs.

Besides that, I have a very expressive and unbiased personality. Thus the sense for bringing a change, speaking up for the underprivileged and supporting various causes are intrinsic to my nature. We have all heard of the phrase, “one picture is worth a thousand words,” and I use my talent to my advantage.

And finally, the fulfilment that comes with it is what keeps me going and gives my creativity a meaning.

You describe colour as powerful symbolism in your art. Could you tell us more about your emotional relationship with colour?

Colour is my powerful symbolism because it reflects my happy persona and my ideal world imagery. Whenever I imagine the world in black and white and no colour, I feel how boring this world would have been. Would we have been as excited to see a rainbow without colour?

This attraction and enchantment to colour dated back to my childhood memories of being in nature such as the aqua sea, the whitest of the sands, or the pinkness of the popularly known 10 o’clock flowers or Portulaca grandiflora.

These sensory impressions transpired into my everyday life and shaped my personality reflecting from my choice of colours.

A remark I have persistently heard from my viewers when they see my work is how my work “soothes” them. This is because I have a very serene air and an idealistic personality.

Colour evokes my inner child and when I see swatches of colours, like a box of crayons, a pan of watercolours, or pots and tubes of paint, I start to imagine and wish the world was filled with avenues of empty canvases, and I could stroll with my brushes, splattering hues everywhere, creating art freely.

Your paintings often depict nostalgic, dreamlike scenes. What stories or emotions do you hope viewers take away from them?

I have a tendency to paint away my inner longings and fantasies, ancient history and culture, narrow alleys, the crashing waves, any memory, a thought, or maybe just a glimpse of the world through rose coloured glasses.

I aim to stir my viewers’ emotions through my artwork because I enjoy connecting my perspective with theirs. In doing so, I love to paint something  incomplete leaving it to the viewers imagination and my paintings give an inkling to light them up by reminding them of a moment, a memory, a thought, a fantasy.

I have managed to start very interesting dialogues due to that and also commissioned work based on their description of their own memories or imagination and those are the most interesting pieces I have done.

Those pieces makes me feel like I have brought to life someone’s close moments or imagination just as they see it.