Exhibition: Narratives of Africa

The exhibition of photographs Narratives of Africa – In Memory of Tanya Teja by Frederick Dharshie will be opened at the Svilara Cultural Station on Friday, 19 April, at 7 p.m. The working hours of the exhibition, which will run until 6 May, are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tanya Teja, as a young member of the Yugoslav-Serbian diaspora, started her life’s journey from Kikinda when she was barely 20 years old. In the years between her entrepreneurial beginnings in London, and those when she became a mother, a businesswoman and a citizen of Nairobi, she paved the way for the establishment of cultural ties between Serbia and Kenya.

Throughout her stay in Nairobi, Tanya provided active support to Serbs who visited Kenya, as well as to many who immigrated and established businesses and daily life in this African country.

Her generosity to those she helped will never be forgotten, and her legacy will live on through them in Serbia, Kenya and beyond.

Not long before her untimely departure, Tanya met Frederick Dharshie, an award-winning Kenyan photographer, and was impressed by his photographs and the stories behind them. Her intention was to implement an exhibition of Dharshie’s works in Serbia to raise awareness of the problems faced by vulnerable groups of people, not only in Kenya, but beyond, as well as to promote the cultural connection between her homeland and her new home.

Although she was not able to implement the project alone, with the help of the City Administration for Culture of the City of Novi Sad and thanks to friends and family, we are honoured to do it on her behalf.

Tatjana Teja (née Mirkov) was born in Kikinda on 16 September 1964 to Desa and Stevan (1938–2016). Tanya was a bright, curious and hard-working child, loved by everyone. She experienced her first adventures as a schoolgirl, travelling around Yugoslavia with the scouts of which she was a member. At the age of 17, she went abroad for the first time as part of a student exchange programme, where she spent a year living in the Norwegian city of Narvik, twinned with Kikinda. She described the experience as expanding her horizons beyond the borders of Yugoslavia and as the first test of her ability to adapt to a new country, people, language and culture.

After graduating in hotel management at the University of Rijeka in Opatija, Tanya travelled around Europe, inspired by the tourists she met in Croatia. Afterwards, she headed to London with the intention of improving her English, which she did by working in shops and restaurants. Adapting to life in a big city was not easy, so Tanya often travelled to Kikinda. However, she did not resist the charm of London and gradually got used to life away from home. The time spent with the Serbian community in the Serbian club, which was located near her apartment, as well as visits to the Serbian Orthodox Church facilitated her integration.

While working in London, she met her husband, Karim, with whom she later opened an espresso bar in the central part of the city and subsequently started a family. Due to a death in Karim’s family, they made the decision to move to his hometown of Nairobi, Kenya. The new environment and culture brought many new challenges that Tanya had to overcome: starting with integration into the Ismaili community, all the way to successfully running family businesses in very challenging circumstances – all while devotedly raising her three sons.

Throughout her stay in Nairobi, Tanya was an active member of the small but consistent Serbian community, providing active support to Serbs visiting Kenya, especially young athletes coming to compete, providing them with accommodation and introducing them to the city and its surroundings. On several occasions, among the Serbs who came there were also adventurers who embarked on

serious challenges, such as riding a bicycle or driving the popular Yugo through Africa. Furthermore, Tanya has helped many people when moving, as well as in establishing a business in Kenya.

Philanthropy, as an integral part of her value system and origin, is a feature that significantly defines Tanya. In 2014, she became the host of a fund-raising campaign for flood victims in Serbia. She has also been an active patron of the Greek Orthodox Church in East Africa, raising funds for children’s Christmas parties every year since 2016.

Tanya gave herself completely to everything she did. She believed that the way you behave, even while performing the smallest tasks, builds your character and influences the formation of your virtues and personality. She invested energy and resources to achieve not only her goals and tasks, but also the aspirations of those she loved and admired. She was a pillar of strength for many of us – her unobtrusive strength and lucid advice will always accompany us on our journey. Tanya was a very careful and sensitive person, who always put others first, sometimes to her own detriment. Her generosity to those she helped will never be forgotten, and her legacy will live on through them in Serbia, Kenya and beyond.

Frederick Dharshie is a self-taught, award-winning photojournalist, with a primary focus on environmental protection and humanitarian crises, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Dharshie’s interest are global topics, which relate to humanitarian and environmental problems, such as food and water shortages, the climate crisis, as well as social issues such as women’s empowerment. With a passion for nature and empathy for people, Dharshie strives to educate the general public, and create awareness about the problems he deals with.

In 2019, he received the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) Environmental Photographer of the Year Award, and the award-winning photograph is titled A Young Boy Drinks Dirty Water in Kakamega, Kenya. The photo was released at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York. Dharshie was also the winner of the Best Locomotive Photo and People’s Choice Award at the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) competition, which celebrated the completion of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, which links Mombasa, a city on the Indian Ocean, with the capital city.

Dharshie was a juror of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Environmental Photography Award in 2021 and 2022, and is currently a member of the Honorary Committee for this Award.

Frederick Dharshie works have been exhibited around the world. Among his latest activities, he participated in the LOOK Climate Lab exhibition, implemented by the Open Eye Gallery from Liverpool (Great Britain), where he presented a collection of works entitled On The Ground: The Story of Trans-Nzoia Through The Trees. These photos were taken during a two-week residency run by Open Eye and the National Museum of Western Kenya.

In addition to this, Dharshie’s works and reporting on environmental and social issues encountered during his travels in Europe, Asia and Africa have been published in well-known newspapers such as Forbes, The Guardian, The Sun, National Geographic, The New York Times and other global publications.