Khaliyesa B. Minishi was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1980. She studied BA Communication (Print Media &Advertising) at Daystar University Kenya and upon graduation in 2003 initiated a successful professional photography career with awards in fashion, editorial and portraiture. She credits the camera as her first tool that connected her to her authentic voice of engagement with the world.

To date, her two (2) decade career has been successful and impactful with its diverse selection of commissioned and personal work with people, products and places nonetheless she is turned on by exploring, experimenting her visual direction and storytelling skills in flow with the shifting cultural and technology norms.

In 2013, she was part of Tom Tykwer’s One Fine Day Films and Deutsche Welle Akademie Training programme in Production Design thereafter developing excellent varied experience in Art Direction notably in feature film, Nairobi Half Life, in which she won an Africa Magic Movie Award for best Art Director.

In 2016, after working in the Nairobi unit of acclaimed Wachowski /Tykwer Netflix series Sense 8 season 1, she ventured in to writing, directing and directing non-fiction trans-media for Well Told Story, a communications research and production company focused on the youth.

‘Khaliyesa’ which means “Rainmaker”, recognises her devotion to story holding, communion and creating as an ally of renewal, reclamation, transformation and connection.

In 2022, She directed and showcased her first VR (virtual reality) immersive project, Utawala, created her multimedia NFT collection, Psalms of The Liminal, available now https://www.voice.com/thebarbaram and directed her first short fiction film, Inheritance, to be released in 2023

Barbara recognises her fascination with how we create our own myths and our intimacy with listening to the world during the spiral cycles of growth we undergo in. Her long term body of work, The 13th Path is an ongoing conversation on the tension, transition, thresholds and transformations we navigate in our personal and collective paths.

In 2022 she was inaugural Africa and Middle East regional winner Fujifilm GFX Challenge Grant 2021 https://fujifilm-x.com/global/special/gfx-challenge-program/2021/ for her project, Utawala, a travelling portrait series on women creating legacy.

In 2023 she was inducted as Fujifilm’s first East and Central Africa Ambassador and Khaliyesa intends that the work she continues to create and collaborate on is impactful, innovate, connective and educative. Her practice has expanded in screenwriting, speaking and creative mentorship and consultancy.

She is available for commissions worldwide and her art work is available for investment. She can be reached on Barbara.minishi@gmail.com