Joyful Moments by Rading Nyamwaya

We are thrilled to introduce Rading Nyamwaya, the final recipient of the 2022 edition of the PICHA Grant Program under the theme; Joyful Moments. Her application captured the various emotions and expressions that fundamentally show how people communicate their moods of joy.

Rading Nyamwaya is an artistic, fun loving alien in love with fashion, design and clearing huge morsels of food. She finds beauty in being the self and expressing the self, all the while spreading raging happiness like a female toreador.

As a photographer, fashion designer, communications expert and writer, she wears many hats and is very much attracted to all things odd and interesting, she keeps herself alive with the motto “I must be braver than anything I mean to do”.

Download Rading's images here

We caught up with Rading after she received the news to ask her a few questions:  

P: What theme did you choose and why?

R: It's funny how I did not exactly pick one theme, I picked all three hoping I could get at least one or all of them, I’m hopeful that way. It still makes me quite happy to think that joyful moments kind of picked me.

P: What was the first thing you did when you found out you got the Grant?

R: When I received the news, the first thing I did was literally jump with joy and I then called all my family and friends and broke the good news. None was short of offering me ‘help’ and how much it would humorously cost.

P: What does getting the Grant mean to you?

R: Getting the Grant means being able to tell the story of my people and my culture, showing the world what it means to see happiness, excitement and also being able to share these moments with the world from my small part of home.

The Grant means being able to tell the stories of different people and being able to look into the different ways they express joy, love, celebration and excitement. It is the chance to share the joy of African people. 

Download Rading's image here

About the PICHA Grant Program

At PICHA, we believe that original stories can change perceptions, that the visual content we provide, can shape the narrative around Africans, and the larger African diaspora. 

Started in 2021, The PICHA Grant Program is a space for our community to learn and grow in storytelling while creating visual content that resonates with the communities they represent. Learn more about the PICHA Grant Program and this year's Grant themes here