Alchemist #5: Rajid Selim, Director / Curator / Founder

Aug 29

“Consistency beats inspiration; culture is created through repetition and belief.”

Director / Curator / Founder of Dost Means Friend, RS

“Right now, I’m in a moment where everything feels like it’s shifting—where years of building, experimenting, and betting on myself are starting to turn into something tangible. I started creating out of both necessity and curiosity.

Necessity because very few were telling the stories I wanted to see, especially for artists from my community. Curiosity because I wanted to see how far I could take an idea, how much impact I could create with a camera, a voiceover, a well-crafted narrative.”

“My work—whether it’s building DOST, directing videos, or capturing an artist’s story—has changed the way I see everything. I’ve learned that taste is everything, that the way you present something can be just as important as the thing itself. That consistency beats inspiration. That culture is created through repetition and belief.

At the core, it’s about amplifying the right voices, and making something that lasts. If my future self is reading this, I hope you still believe in that.”

Connect with Rajid at rajidselim.com , @rajidselim and @dostmeansfriend on Instagram