Haneefah Adam is a young Nigerian artist who has taken the artistic world by storm with her exploits in food arts. Most of us see food for its primary purpose of satisfying our hunger, but Haneefah views food differently.
To her, food can serve artistic purposes and she has proven that numerous times with creative works made from food particles. The world has been left amazed by her talent; one would hardly believe that our daily diets can be transformed into works of art.
Popular for presenting food in creative ways, Haneefah gained global recognition in 2015 after transforming barbie into hijarbie (a hijab-wearing Muslim doll). The gifted artist makes use of the opportunity presented by the tech ecosystem. Social media has played an essential role in selling her works to the public through the use of Instagram.
28-year-old Haneefah possess an MSc in Pharmacology and Drug Discovery from the prestigious Coventry University, UK, but her love for arts inspired her into becoming a full-time artist, a choice she has never regretted. Haneefah is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist who currently resides in Kwara state, Nigeria. Her works focuses on issues related to culture, identity, societal representation, and her personal experiences and observations as a Muslim woman. With an eclectic select of media, ranging from painting, to photography, experimental digital and food art, Haneefah has seen significant global coverage from international media agencies and publication outlets such as CNN, BBC, and New York Times amongst others.
Inspired by the southern Nigerian delicacy, ogbono soup, one of her favourite childhood meals, Haneefah made a portrait of an African woman with vibrant colours using all the ingredients of ogbono soup. She would eventually win the 2016 TechMeetsArtNG exhibition with this entry. She recounts how her success at the competition served as reason to venture full-time into food art:
Before the competition, my art was mostly random, and I was just documenting food on social media. But after winning, I started to think about actively making a living from food art.
Adam
Bella Naija
The popular food artist’s creativity has seen her work with brands including Dangote Salt, Maggi, Etisalat Nigeria, Dominos and Coldstone.
Sources:
CNN
Haneefah Adam
Okay Africa
The Lady’s Room NG
Featured Images source: Twitter