Sakina Designs

Written by Hamzah Moin (www.maniacmuslim.com)

www.sakinadesigns.com
http://www.sakinadesigns.com/Gallery.html

Sometimes one does not have to look too far to see a great example of a successful Muslimah-owned venture. Aayshah and her sister Shaheen both saw a huge void of Islamic and Arabic calligraphic contemporary artwork and decided to fill it by opening a new business last year called Sakina Designs.

Now for those who don't know, Sakina in Arabic means tranquil. That's a good description of their artwork as well because their artwork was quite 'tranquilizing' if you know what I'm saying. It has that sort of 'peaceful' quality to it which is sort of fitting. Aayshah, one of the company's co-founders, explains “This company was established in order to provide high quality Arabic and Islamic Artwork to those living in the west. Sakina Designs strives to fill the void of Contemporary Islamic Art and to promote positivity about Islam.”

They have been planning out this thing for awhile but the dream came to reality at MuslimFest 2005 in Mississauga, Ontario where they debuted their booth for the first time.
The sisters have always been artistically inclined. They started painting at a young age and later on noticed the lack of artistic endevours in the Muslim community.

Sakina Designs has an awesome vision. Aayshah states, "This distinctive presentation of Arabic Artwork is much needed in the West, where Islamic Art Expression is limited." She further explains, "Sakina Designs hopes to bridge that gap and provide quality pieces that will enhance the spaces of our customers. Our mission is to bring affordable Arabic Art to enhance living and working spaces through artistic means that is pleasing to the eyes and the soul. Our prices vary with each unique piece of artwork. We feel that artwork should be available to all, regardless of class, color and creed."

Pretty snazzy isn't it? Things weren't always so rosy though. Getting businesses like this started is ridiculously tough. For my business I just have to design something on Photoshop for 5 minutes and send it to the printers and VOILA... hundreds upon hundreds of merchandise to sell. Sakina Designs doesn't operate like that. In fact, every single one of their pieces has to be individually painted and thus has this funky connection between the artist and the piece. Making dozes of pieces for conferences means a lot of time and labour.
On top of that, at conferences they always try to get swindled by cheap Muslims who try to bargain every single one of their pieces. But annoying cheapskates aside, the business has been profitable for the sister duo, Alhamdullilah. Sakina Designs lives on and has a bright future indeed.

The sisters recently landed a spot in the new Muslim Girl magazine, landed a spot at the Exhibit in Toronto City Hall Library and currently have an exhibit at the Varley Gallery. On top of all that, they're teaching courses at the Royal Ontario Museum about Exploring Islamic Arts and Culture!

Girl power indeed.