A profile in the Weekly News series Brushstrokes & Beyond features Kandi Hariraj, the Guyana-born artist behind Beach Kandi, whose handmade souvenirs now sell in around 10 of the Turks and Caicos Islands' most esteemed gift shops and galleries. The piece, published on 31 July 2026, traces her journey from a childhood hobby in Georgetown to a thriving enterprise.
Beach Kandi launched in 2017 with a souvenir journal illustrated with Hariraj's own photographs, followed by paintings and handmade jewellery. She moved to TCI in 2007 with her young son, saying "I couldn't picture my life there" after her family migrated to the US. Resorts including Club Med, Beaches, The Palms and the Alexandra later requested their own collections, and her range grew to keychains, magnets, Christmas ornaments, art prints and jewellery.
Hariraj still designs and curates collections but now outsources much of the manufacturing as the business has grown. Her severe allergy to certain metals drives her use of sterling silver, stainless steel, tarnish-resistant gold, freshwater pearls and beads. Shops stocking her work include Anna's Art Gallery, Atelys and Beach Monkey. "Beach Kandi is less about the things I make and more about encapsulating that feeling of falling in love with Turks and Caicos," she says.