00:00Okay, so you're going to teach her that rhythm.
00:02Okay.
00:04I'm nervous.
00:05Alright, it's going to be bass, bass.
00:09One, two, three, four.
00:19I 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.
00:29That 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.
00:50When I was nine years old, I got burned with hot oil.
00:56I really got into makeup after getting burned
01:01because I needed some sort of, like, substitution for my skin
01:06just so my scar wouldn't be quite as noticeable.
01:10After ten years of living in America,
01:13I 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.
01:22There's a whole history and a past rooted in my African culture
01:25that I have not been able to fully explore.
01:30I wanted to see how other LA-based Nigerians are holding on to tradition
01:34and blending it into the present day.
01:37Hi, nice to meet you.
01:38Nice to meet you, too.
01:40Welcome to Kutula.
01:41Kutula by Africana is a store here in LA
01:44that is trying to combine traditional African print with modern design aesthetics.
01:49We 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,
01:59we 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.
02:09Okay.
02:09And then we get really cool opportunities.
02:12Like, we worked on the Black Panther film
02:13in the Kendrick Lamar video.
02:16Herring here.
02:17That is so cute.
02:19Get you a crown.
02:21Awesome.
02:22Queen Shalom.
02:26Very cute.
02:27Let me see it in the mirror.
02:29Move over, Janelle Monae.
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,
03:05but loving the way they 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,
04:08masks 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 so, like, all around Africa.
04:27So I want to show you a few other statues.
04:30The two large figures here, they're nature spirits.
04:33They'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 mard eggs.
04:46Oh, does she?
04:47Yeah.
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.
05:00So 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 with love.
05:14Yes.
05:14We have these Ghanaian combs.
05:18And combs in Ghana, the Asante, they would actually give combs, men would give combs to women.
05:26Okay.
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 fiancee.
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?
05:47Yeah.
05:48To 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 thought about in a long time.
06:03I was so inspired, I decided to reach out to Lula Washington Dance Theater.
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
06:38and music, because I feel like a lot of the time, especially in California or L.A., you
06:43would say it's not really celebrated as much.
06:45Why 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
06:59modern dance.
07:00It's only like people are into one thing.
07:03And we felt that even if you wanted to be a ballerina, even if you wanted to be a hip
07:08-hop
07:08dancer in Hollywood, even if you wanted to be in a modern dance company, you needed to
07:14have African dance.
07:16We are multicultural people.
07:17We live in America, but our home, our roots are in Africa.
07:22And 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?
07:32Yeah.
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 learn and also for me
08:09to 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.
08:18Four.
08:19And have this shape in her arm.
08:22One.
08:22Two.
08:23Three.
08:24Four.
08:25Then you split.
08:27Then you split.
08:28Step.
08:28Now can you look at that again and hear the break so...
08:33You know the drum tells when to move.
08:37Right.
08:38Two.
08:39Three.
08:41Step.
08:50Step.
08:52Step.
08:53Step.
08:54Step.
08:55Step.
09:03Looking around, not only am I seeing kids enjoying themselves, but I can see them learning
09:08and gaining appreciation for a culture that many of them have never gotten to experience.
09:14My parents have always stressed the importance of embracing my Nigerian heritage and today
09:19has really allowed me to do just that.
09:22I have seen many people here in America that are searching to connect with a culture they
09:26care for and appreciate, and to be a part of BOLD is something that I am truly proud of.
