Mo's Great Grandfather, regional ruler of central Iran with his bodyguards, 1905.
Mo Fini was born into a Persian textile family in the desert town of Kashan, the home of world-famous carpets. In 1968 he came to England to study.
His passion for travelling took him to South America in 1978 for the first time. He immediately fell in love with the land and its people and developed an affinity with the weavers of Peru and Ecuador. When he returned to England he founded Tumi Crafts in 1978 and in 1983 Tumi Music.
Tumi's aim has always been to bring these two worlds together through fair trade and to promote Latin American and Caribbean Arts and Music . This has been brought about by concerted effort in the cultural arena. In 1985 Mo Fini mounted a major exhibition of Peruvian textiles at the Commonwealth Institute in London. The exhibition was accompanied by a book entitled 'The Weavers of Ancient Peru' written by Mo Fini. During the six weeks of the exhibition an estimated 40,000 people visited. The exhibition involved bringing several mammies from the Peruvian deserts as well as indigenous families. To accompany the exhibition he wrote the book entitled “Weavers of Ancient peru”.
In 1987 Mo Fini, accompanied by his partner Lucy Davies toured South America on a motorbike. The journey, which lasted twelve months, raised several thousand pounds for Amnesty International. Watch the video here.
1986 Patagonia Southern Chile
In 1995 he co-authored a book entitled 'Arts and Crafts of South America' for world-wide distribution by the London publishers Thames and Hudson. Once again, in order to do the final research for the book, Mo Fini, Lucy Davies and their five month old baby travelled in their landrover from Tierra del Fuego to Caracas, passing through thousands of villages. They covered some 40,000 miles.
During his 40 years of travelling in Latin America and Cuba,Mo Fini has researched and shot many educational documentaries for educational purposes. You can see some of his work in www.youtube.com/tumimusic
1991 award for effective communication
A creative, cultured and endlessly enthusiastic man, Mo Fini divides his time living and learning in England and Latin America. Life is a learning experience for the passionate photographer, textile expert, head of Tumi Music , author and enthusiastic member of the Grammy organisation.
In 1991, he was given the highest award for effective communication by The minister of foreign development Rt Hon. Lynda Chalker as well as award for Visnion.
Mo Fini is the author of 'Portrait of Latin America', 'Weavers of Ancient Peru' and, together with Lucy Davies, co-author of 'Arts and Crafts of Latin America' and co-author of “Dictionary of Cuban Music” together with diseased Cuban author Elio Oruvio.
Mo and Nina Paraguay 1994
In 1992 Mo Fini achieved his most ambitious project to date. After researching the lives of the Q’eros, a hidden community in the heart of the Andes, he set off with a film crew of 10 people and his friend Zado Nava and accompanied by some 14 horses and 30 kgs of film stock. The expedition took 29 days of filming and walking. The Q’eros,”in the search of last Incas” who lived at an altitude of 5000 metres above sea leval have lived in isolation from the rest of the world, awaiting the re-appearance of the Inca. Watch the video here
Mo in Qero 1993
1994 Mo and Compay Segundo, Cuba
Helio Orovio and Mo-Cuba 2004
In 2017 after spending some 30 years recording and filming videos in Cuba he wrote the script “Mambo Man” as well as financing and co-directing it with his friend Edesio Alejandro. The film is inspired by the life of one Mo’s close friends in Cuba. The movie is due to be finished during 2018 and released early 2019
Mo and Edesio Alejandro and little Camilita during shooting the film Mambo Man in Bayamo, Cuba