Originally from Pietermaritzburg, Desai showed a flair for art at a young age when he sketched cartoon characters as well as dress designs for his mother who was a dressmaker. He attended a technical school and excelled at technical drawings. It was here that he learnt about dimension and perspective, the cornerstone of most visual art forms.

Over the years, Desai has done layouts and paste-up for various catalogues and brochures, compiled community newspapers which included the design of advertisements, layout of pages to final print as well as sign writing. He also painted many backdrops for musical and variety concerts as well as stage settings for traditional weddings. 

Desai moved to Cape Town in 1991 and joined Achmat Soni’s art classes. The paintings of Achmat Soni inspired him to follow the course of Islamic Art and he completed his first Islamic painting in 1995. He eventually went on to teach Islamic Art when he moved back to Pietermaritzburg in 2002 to tend to his ailing mother. These lessons were held at the Iqra Library and were for both adults and children. 

Desai now resides in Cape Town and does Islamic Art as a hobby. He has produced greeting cards from some of his miniature paintings as well as 1000-piece puzzles which were launched in 2015.

Both traditional and contemporary art appeal to Desai and he uses acrylic water-based colours. 

Desai hosts art workshops which are aimed at both children and adults. He is currently exhibiting at the Al-Ikhlaas Academia Gallery.

Phone: 0820415146

Email: raffiqdesaiart@gmail.com