In Memoriam
Albertan photographer Nabila Walji loved capturing the world around her, lending us a window to look at the world through her eyes. Her most famous work “Unbelonging in my Fatherland” tells the story of her unique positionality in her homes: Canada, East Africa, and her elusive “fatherland”. She continued to explore this theme in her GPISH dissertation, which focused on the Ismailia Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, and its role in the historical, urban, olfactory, and culinary fabric of the city. Photos from this exhibition were featured in the Windows Galleries from May 2021 – September 2021.
In her own words, "My creative work centres and interrogates identity, culture, discrimination and community in a combined academic-artistic photographic and writing practice. As a woman of colour, born and raised in Canada, my belonging has constantly been challenged. Photography in East Africa was a means of searching for home in my Fatherland. Writing about my experiences helped me process the multitude of contradictions that surrounded my in-between positions.”
Nabila shared her open heart and refreshing way of looking at the world with everyone she met. The Nabila Walji Foundation has been set up by Nabila's family as a living expression of its namesake's passion for equity, social justice, and supporting vulnerable communities.
