I originally created Simiya when I got homesick for the Caribbean. When searching the Web I discovered to my surprise that it was difficult to find sites that were not dedicated to tourism, general interest, politics/news or music. My nostalgic desires demanded more, so I decided to create a site about the forgotten vibrance of the region, its art.

Some of you have asked about the origin of this site's title. "Simiya" is part of the Jamaican vocabulary meaning "Here I am". It is actually a truncation of the phrase "See me here". I thought this would be a fitting title for this visual directory for lovers of the Caribbean. Simiya is a universal word also meaning "seed" in Papiamentu, the language of the Dutch Caribbean. I also recently discovered that Simiya is an East African surname and surprisingly the name of a religious movement in Yemen.