Artist Activist, Curator
Zaahirah is a passionate artist activist and curator hailing from Mauritius, nestled in Dubai for the past 10 years. As a person who aspires to bring about positive changes in the society, she conveys a strong message of empowerment through her art and artistic initiatives. Zaahirah is also a savvy business-woman. She is the founder of ZeeArts, an international art hub that connects artists from across the world through myriad of projects including Art exhibition, Fair, art and cultural retreat program, Artist Empowerment Program, art consultancy services and curatorship. Zaahirah has provided consistently impassioned support for women artists across the globe. She has been the mastermind behind an impressive array of artistic initiatives, including the Art Connects Women, an International Women’s Art Exhibition which is on its 4th Edition. She has launched the second Art Book- ‘Women Artists around the World’ in March 2020, a kudus to 100 female artists from 100 different countries covering Europe, Africa & Middle-East, Americas, Asia and Oceania. Last year, the art activist has established the premier MIAF- (Mauritius International Art Fair) as a multidisciplinary contemporary art fair with the aim to position Mauritius as the Art and Cultural destination In the region. As an artist, Zaahirah has had her art exhibited in Africa, Europe, Middle East, United States and Asia. She was the curator for World Art Dubai from 2017-2019 and has curated over 35 art exhibitions in UAE, Singapore, Georgia, Mauritius, France and Lebanon. she has received numerous honors under her belt for her art and her various art initiatives. She was awarded the Leonardo Da Vinci Universal Artist Award in Florence, Italy, in Jan 2018 which was followed in February by the Femina–Women International Leadership Award in the artist category in Mumbai, India. As a Toastmaster she has been featured in 101 Artists Toastmaster by Armando Cristofori, which has been distributed worldwide. Coming from a social worker background, Zaahirah’s core value has empowered her organization, ZeeArts to build a legacy in the creative industry; ZeeArts was the very first gallery representing Middle-Eastern Artists at the Carrousel du Louvre, in Paris.