About the Artist
Born and schooled in the beautiful little town of Edavanakad in Eranakulam district of Kerala, India, Manaf took his diploma in Electronics Engineering from SSM Polytechnic, Tirur, and later did his B Tech in Communication Engineering from Govt. College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram.
He later did an ‘Executive Leadership Development Program’ at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE.
In 1990, Manaf joined the Doordarshan Kendra (the official TV Channel of the Government of India) in Thiruvananthapuram as an Engineer. Manaf spent a decade at the Doordarshan Kendra, where he benefitted from a range of experiences, particularly in sound recording, mixing, lighting direction, doing voice-over and scriptwriting skills.
Notwithstanding how valuable the opportunity was, Manaf worked actively to develop beyond the remit of the role and reached out to the outside world with his lens, producing and directing dozens of feature films, documentaries and commercial films for television.
In 2002, Manaf moved to Dubai, taking up employment with Ten Sports, Media City.
After 12 fruitful years with Ten Sports, where he rose to the position of Vice-President – Broadcast Operations, Manaf moved on to take up the role of Associate Director – Media Services at Tata Communications in Dubai Internet City. Currently he works as Project manager at Sharjah Media City under Govt. of Sharjah, UAE.
Manaf lives in Dubai with his daughter Fadiya, son Naveed and wife Jisha.
Exhibitions
Manaf has conducted five solo exhibitions of his works at different locations in India and abroad, the last one at the All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society, Delhi.
Since 2009 his exhibitions were held under the title ‘Visible Spirits’ and 5 volumes of Visible Spirits have been held so far, 4 of them in the UAE.
Manaf is a long-term member of Dubai International Art Centre, where his works have been frequently displayed at Gallery 77 of The Dubai Art Centre.
Other Contributions
With over two decades of association with the media industry, Manaf has produced and directed around two dozen feature films and documentaries that include:
A programme on Ajantha and Ellora caves.
Feature on Khajuraho group of temples.
A documentary on ‘Polio Home’.
A programme on Shadow play.
A photo feature on TajMahal (mainly based on his photographs) ‘ The Feather of Love’
Produced and directed 52 episodes of aprogramme on health titled ‘Health Watch’
Produced and directed a 30-episode programme on Ramadan (Shaharu Ramadan)
Apart from these, Manaf has done many commercials for television and the big screen.
Recognition and Awards
Kerala State award winner for the best Sound Engineer for a telefilm based on Albert Camus’ ‘Just’.
Recipient of the Bharath Surya Award for Best Feature Director.
‘Nana’ film magazine award for the best Sound Engineer for the program on ‘mental hospitals in Kerala’
Other Activities
Manaf also writes features and articles on environmental issues, science and history.