00:00Okay, so you're going to teach her that rhythm.
00:02Okay.
00:05Alright, it's going to be bass, bass, one, two, three, four.
00:18I haven't been back to Nigeria since I came here at 11.
00:24I remember people telling me that I should go back to my country.
00:30That made me feel like my heritage wasn't beautiful, you know?
00:33Because I wanted to be as perfect as possible.
00:43For almost all my life, my identity has been tied to my scars.
00:48I came here for surgical purposes.
00:51When I was nine years old, I got burned with hot oil.
00:56I really got into makeup after getting burned because I needed some sort of like substitution for my skin just
01:07so my scar wouldn't be quite as noticeable.
01:10After 10 years of living in America, I am going to finally be an American citizen this month.
01:17This has gotten me thinking a lot about where I came from and why.
01:21There's a whole history and a past rooted in my African culture that I have not been able to fully
01:27explore.
01:30I wanted to see how other LA based Nigerians are holding on to tradition and blending it into the present
01:36day.
01:37Hi, nice to meet you.
01:38Nice to meet you too. Welcome to Kutula.
01:41Kutula by Africana is a store here in LA that is trying to combine traditional African print with modern design
01:47aesthetics.
01:48We make everything on site.
01:50Really?
01:51Yeah.
01:51What? In here?
01:52Yep, right here.
01:53So we've always done that.
01:55We've always made everything on site.
01:56Because a lot of our clients come from different cultures, we do a lot of contemporary.
02:01So see even like how I'm wearing this?
02:02Yeah.
02:02Like I'm just mixing it into my wardrobe.
02:04I may not be wearing print head to toe, but I mix it in.
02:07So that's kind of what I mean by contemporary.
02:09And then we get really cool opportunities.
02:12Like we worked on the Black Panther film and the Kendrick Lamar video.
02:16Herring here.
02:17That is so cute.
02:19Get your crown.
02:21Awesome.
02:22Queen Shalom.
02:26Very cute.
02:27Let me see it in the mirror.
02:29Move over Janelle Monáe.
02:30Right.
02:34Yeah, so I figured, I know I can see your style, but I think it's nice to incorporate stuff.
02:40Maybe like if you wanted to wear it to a wedding.
02:42So let's get some things for you to try on.
02:48Oh, fabulous.
02:51I remember after moving to America, I avoided wearing African print.
02:56Okay, this has to be my favorite fabric.
03:00Wearing these pieces now, I am so happy to find myself not only appreciating the patterns, but loving the way
03:06they look.
03:07I wanted to see what other ways people in LA were embracing African culture.
03:13The Fowler Museum on UCLA's campus is home to over 100 pieces of African art.
03:19Here I am meeting with assistant curator, Erica.
03:23She has worked at this museum for years and graduated with a major in art history with a focus on
03:29African art.
03:30She agreed to show me around and give me insight to some of the wonderful pieces in their collection.
03:36Well, welcome to the Fowler Museum.
03:38Thank you for having me.
03:39Oh, it's our pleasure.
03:40And I wanted to focus on a few African objects related to beauty and femininity.
03:45I will tell you this is one of my favorite pieces in this gallery.
03:49So this is a Soe mask.
03:52Soe?
03:52Soe.
03:53Okay.
03:54And it's from Sierra Leone.
03:56And this is a type of mask that was actually worn by women.
04:00Okay.
04:01Which is incredibly rare because in West Africa, really throughout Africa, masking traditions, masks are exclusively worn by men.
04:10And they were worn during these initiation ceremonies for young women.
04:15I definitely remember that going to the religion scene, like our version of Masquerade in Nigeria.
04:22So that's amazing to see how it's sold all around Africa.
04:27So I want to show you a few other statues.
04:30The two large figures here, they're nature spirits, they're representations of nature spirits.
04:35Okay.
04:35They have these beautiful scarification patterns on their faces, on their bodies.
04:41They're muscular.
04:42My mom actually has the marks.
04:46Oh, does she?
04:46Yeah.
04:47It's like a backward F.
04:49Oh.
04:50Yeah.
04:50And then she has two lines like on her cheeks.
04:53Oh, wow.
04:53Yeah.
04:54It was like something that they did like back in the days in a way to like identify which tribe
04:59you're from.
05:00Mm-hmm.
05:00So every tribe has a certain mark that they put on their kids.
05:05But my parents decided that they didn't want to do that to us.
05:08So finally, I wanted to show you something that we can touch.
05:13Ooh.
05:13Yes.
05:13With love.
05:14We have these Ghanaian combs.
05:18And combs in Ghana, the Asante, they would actually give combs, men would give combs to women.
05:26If you look in the center, it spells out love.
05:31Oh, yes it does.
05:32And so this is probably a gift between, you know, a husband and wife or, you know, to a fiance.
05:38I remember using this when I was back home, like the wooden combs.
05:44They're pretty interesting.
05:45And how would you guys, how would you use them?
05:48Um, to comb the hair like that.
05:50Mm-hmm.
05:50Or you hold the hair on the edges and then you just kind of comb.
05:55The Fallon Museum brought up memories of my childhood in Nigeria.
05:59Family and friends I had not taught about in a long time.
06:03I was so inspired, I decided to reach out to Lula Washington Dance Theatre.
06:08Here they teach the art of African dance and drumming to students of all ages.
06:22African dance was an important part of my upbringing.
06:25So I was so excited to sit down with the founders of this studio to find out how bringing these
06:29classes here has affected the community.
06:32I was saying I think it's amazing how you guys are teaching cultural, you know, dances and music.
06:39Because I feel like a lot of the time, especially in California or L.A., you would say it's not
06:44really celebrated as much.
06:46Why was it important for you to offer African dance here?
06:50In Los Angeles, very often the focus is commercial dance, hip-hop dance, or maybe ballet, or maybe modern dance.
07:00It's only like people are into one thing.
07:03And we felt that even if you want to be a ballerina, even if you want to be a hip
07:08-hop dancer in Hollywood,
07:10even if you want to be in a modern dance company, you needed to have African dance.
07:16We are multicultural people, we live in America, but our home, our roots are in Africa.
07:21And so we think people should celebrate that.
07:25So can you talk a bit about how the studio and the dance has affected the people that come here?
07:33This is home.
07:34Yeah.
07:35So when people come in here, they feel like they're at home.
07:37Yeah.
07:38From the littlest ones to the oldest ones.
07:41We teach them how to be good citizens.
07:44We teach them how to be focused.
07:47We teach them how to be able to get along.
07:52We teach ethics.
07:53So we teach them how to be.
07:56How to...
07:57So it's not just dance.
07:58It's not just dance.
07:59Yeah.
08:00But they have to learn how to be in class.
08:03So I'm really excited to go into the class and see the students on Learn and also for
08:08me to pick on some stuff today.
08:10The back is on an arch.
08:12Okay.
08:12It's like the water.
08:13Taking it back.
08:15Two.
08:15Three.
08:16Three steps.
08:17One.
08:17Two.
08:18Three.
08:18Forward.
08:19And have this shape in her arm.
08:22One.
08:22Two.
08:23Three.
08:24Four.
08:25Then you slow, step, step.
08:27Then you slow, step, step.
08:29I'm now going to do it back again and hear the break.
08:33Okay, so...
08:33Okay.
08:34You know, in the...
08:35There's not itself, it's going to Malia.
08:37Right.
08:38One.
08:41One.
08:42One.
08:45One.
08:49One.
08:51One.
08:52One.
08:55One.
08:58One.
08:59One.
08:59One.
09:01One.
09:03One.
09:05One.
09:06One.
09:08One.
09:08One.
09:08One.
09:08One.
09:09One.
09:09One.
09:10One.
09:11One.
09:12One.
09:14One.
09:16One.
09:17my Nigerian heritage and today has really allowed me to do just that. I have
09:22seen many people here in America that are searching to connect with a culture
09:26they care for and appreciate and to be a part of BOLD is something that I am
09:31truly proud of. Thank you so much for watching. For more videos click here. To
09:38subscribe click here.
Comments