Shelli-shelli is the part of my work that explores heritage through shells, especially the cowrie – seashell of abundance, memory and divination. It explores the shells’ history, symbolisms and spiritual connections from the Indian Ocean and Atlantic worlds, and seeks to reconnect with, or invent, methods of divination and craft with the shells to explore oceanic and creole heritage. In my creative practice I explore shells as carriers of memory and as ‘sharing tokens’ which can play a role within community as a form of currency based on love, memory and shared experience.

The word ‘shelli-shelli’ (or more correctly – ‘washelli-shelli’ in the plural or ‘mshelli-shelli’ in the singular) is the coastal East African name for migrant communities from the Seychelles and Indian Ocean islands associated with the cowrie trade that began in the Maldives. It was the name of the islander community that my father’s family lived as part of, in Mombasa, before moving to the UK.