Being African. Being European. Being Afro-European ... ~ Yaaya

"My personality and experiences mirror a mixture or bowl of cultures. I wouldn’t just say I am “one-bit” -
I love bits of and pieces of different cultures. "

Hazel was born in Germany, raised in Nigeria and schooled in London.

In Part 2 of this four-part interview post, we discover how the dynamics of Hazel’s multi-cultural upbringing has influenced the person she is today as a woman living in Europe.

And so the conversation continues …

Yaaya:

Can you briefly explain your ethnic background?

Hazel A:

My mom is German, and my dad is Nigerian. My mom met my dad here [London] and then they decided to go back to Nigeria. She was here working and he was here studying.

Yaaya:

Where did you grow up in Nigeria?

Hazel A:

I grew up in Lagos. I went to Corona School and then I went to German School Lagos (Deutsche Schule Lagos). And for me, it was the best childhood I could have ever had. Most of my closest friends I met from growing up there [Nigeria]. So yeah, it’s the freedom, the great weather. It’s just very different than growing up in Europe. It’s a lot more enclosed here. Like I noticed with kids, they don’t go out and I’m more protective of them, whereas in Nigeria you have these big compounds they can run around in. And then you can go to the beach. There’s more outdoors, whereas here it’s more indoors.

Yaaya:

What is it like to have lived/grown up in three different countries and cultures?

Hazel A:

I guess Germany and Nigeria are very different. I mean, when you think of Germany, you think it’s very organised. Nigeria is very … (laughs) … chaotic, buzzing … just very different. And London to me is somewhere between both of these countries. It’s not as organised as Germany and not as crazy as say Lagos.

I loved growing up in Nigeria. I loved the space, I loved the freedom. What I love about Nigeria is that it is a very friendly community, and everyone sort of knows each other, whereas here in the U.K., in Germany or in the Western world, everything has to be pre-planned. You can’t just show up to visit your neighbour, and it’s all very structured. But in Nigeria, everything was just so … open and free. It was great to grow up there.

And so I guess, I embody both cultures. From my German side I have that habit of being organised and structured, and from my Nigerian side, I have these entrepreneurial qualities. Which I find compliments each other to help me get things done.

Also, I just happen to live in London. I wouldn’t say I feel English. But I definitely feel German and Nigerian.

Yaaya:

You speak very fondly about growing up in Nigeria. What is your favourite childhood memory of growing up in Nigeria?

Hazel A:

I think school! All my friends are from school – from Corona and the German School. Because that’s where my social life was. I wasn’t really allowed to go out. When you have a Nigerian dad you’re not really allowed to go out (laughs), and I could see why. So all the social activity happened at school – at the German school you’d have your Christmas parties, your this parties, so that was my social life. And so I’d say school.

Yaaya:

Do you feel the multicultural aspects of your life experiences to date are reflected in your personality? For example – we know you are interested in languages, love Oriental food, and are an avid traveller.

Hazel A:

I think definitely so because I love travelling. For me culture is very important, and I think I understand it better because I am well-travelled. When I travel, I bring back a bit of the culture of country I went to. So with oriental cooking, having travelled to Thailand, you bring that back here. My personality and experiences mirror a mixture or bowl of cultures. I wouldn’t just say I am “one-bit” – I love bits of and pieces of different cultures.

Yaaya:

How would you say your children feel … do they identify with the German and Nigerian culture as well, or is mostly with the English culture?

Hazel A:

They identify with the African culture, not so strongly with the Nigerian culture as they haven’t been there. They’ve been to Ghana. Also, they surround themselves with a lot of our friends who are Nigerian. I’d say it’s a mixture, but they probably feel more English-African than German, because they are also growing up and schooling here. So I guess they probably have less affinity with Germany.

Yaaya:

And how important do you think it is for them to know about your African and German heritage?

Hazel A:

I think it is important. I speak German to my kids, and they understand everything. When you go with them to Ghana they still look quizzically at some of the people in the street markets selling stuff and carrying their goods and merchandise on their head. They look at that like “this is foreign to us, but fascinating at the same time”. My daughter would say when we land there [Ghana], “there’s a lot of black people, so we’re in Africa!” (laughs).

But I think the more they travel there, the more they understand the differences between parts of Europe and parts of Africa. And I think from a small age, it is important to get them to understand their culture. We take them to Germany as well, to understand their German culture.

Yaaya:

Was it a culture-shock for you and your family when you moved to Nigeria from Germany?

Hazel A:

For me, it wouldn’t have been because I was too young. I was three months old. So for me, it wasn’t a culture shock. For my mom, it wasn’t a culture shock either because at that time it was exotic, it was new. It was more my dad who was disappointed that things hadn’t moved forward in Nigeria. But my mom was really excited about moving to Africa, she really enjoyed it.

I guess the culture shock was when I went from Corona School, which is more like an English-Nigerian school, to the German School. In Corona School, the way they bring you up there is stricter. When I went to the German School, some students would talk back to the teacher. That was a culture shock, because at the English-Nigerian school, you dared not say anything back to your teacher otherwise you would get caned. And then coming from the German School to Germany was even more of a culture shock, because there it was all over the place. I didn’t find there was any respect for the teachers. I guess for me that was the culture shock – in the schooling from the Nigeria to Germany.

Yaaya:

Did any aspects of a patriarchal culture surface in the way the male and female students interacted with one another?

Hazel A:

Yes. I still even struggle with that now when I go back to Ghana or to Nigeria, where it’s like the woman has a particular role. I am a bit of a feminist so I don’t believe in all that nonsense. I believe roles can be shared.

Here it is a bit more equal than back home. I guess you are seen in a certain role and the man is there to take care of you.

Yaaya:

So do you feel you have a bit more freedom as black woman in Europe compared to Africa?

Hazel A:

Yes, I’d definitely say so because even when you have kids, you [the woman] are meant to look after the kids by yourself in Africa. Also you have more involvement [from immediate and extended family], and in Nigeria or Africa you also have people [Nannies] to help, so the man doesn’t feel any need to [be involved]. Whereas here, you don’t, so everyone kind of has to pull their weight.

Yaaya:

Why did you decide to study in London for your undergraduate degree?

Hazel A:

We came from Nigeria to Germany, and we lived in a small little town for a year, and I absolutely hated it; coming from Lagos to a small little town. The reason we moved there was because my grandparents lived there. I never experienced racism, but it was just that you’d walk down the street and people would stare at you. Coming from Lagos where you just blended in and no-one would stare at you in a funny way. So I’d been persuading my mom for a whole year to move to London, because we used to come to London every summer. So I knew people, she knew people [in London]. So I came and just started schooling here.

There is a Nigerian community here in London and of course you have the European element. In Germany, I felt the Nigerian element was completely gone, I felt I had no connection with Nigeria because there wasn’t really a Nigerian community. Generally, where we were, the Nigerians there were mainly asylum seekers. I had no connection with them whatsoever; we would have been brought up completely different. Whereas here you can meet Nigerians who are lawyers, who are this, who are that. There’s no overt sense of inequality of opportunities here for Africans compared to Germany.

Yaaya:

So was it that the Nigerian community wasn’t accessible?

Hazel A:

Yes it wasn’t as accessible. Also the middle class or the educated ones, there weren’t many of them. Or if I did meet a mixed race girl, she was brought up in Germany and I couldn’t find a connection with her because I still longed to find someone who’d lived there [Africa] to have that conversation where we could reminisce about ‘home’. But yeah, even the mixed race girls I’d met there [Germany] had no connection with Africa, so I just felt a bit lost.

Everyone treated me really nicely, it was more me. I missed that African part of myself and I wanted to find someone to share those jokes, those stories with and I couldn’t find anyone.

Also, the parties that would happen there [Germany], it was all about drinking and smoking. Whereas the parties in Nigeria were about dancing and so I couldn’t understand … I just didn’t enjoy it. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, it was really not my scene, whereas in Nigeria everyone would just have fun. And so, I was searching for people and I just couldn’t find any. I was quite depressed to the point that my hair was falling out. And I tried, I really worked on my mom and so we came to London and actually loved it here.

Yaaya:

Can you draw on any obvious or subtle social differences between living in Africa and living in Europe as a black woman?

Hazel A:

I guess I was too young in Nigeria, because I didn’t really know about colour. I was just me. I think it was when I came here [Europe] that I understood there was a difference in colour.

(Pauses to think) Hmm, I’d say I haven’t really noticed much difference in the way I’ve been treated. I’d say more so entering the [European] fashion world is where I’ve noticed “okay, I am a different colour, and people treat me differently”.

Yaaya:

Can you elaborate on that?

Hazel A:

When you have a little drop of black in you, you’re not mixed, you’re black. They look at your clothes, and they just automatically put you in as “you’re ethnic” or “you’re a minority”. You’re not really taken that seriously; you have to really fight hard. It can be quite a racist world, the fashion [world]. I mean you open up all these magazines, and you hardly ever see a black designer, which really frustrates me. You look at London Fashion Week, I don’t think there’s any black designer. At New York [Fashion Week], maybe you’ll have one or two. Paris, I don’t think … maybe Paris. You can name the [black] designers who have been in these top fashion shows, because there are maybe only like five of them if you’re lucky. And that is where I have noticed that as a black woman, you’re treated slightly differently.

Sometimes, I don’t think you’re taken as seriously, I don’t know, it’s just harder to get in as it is a very tight-knit [community] and you have to actually know someone in that circle to be pulled in. And then once you’re pulled in, you’re only that one person that has been pulled in, probably just to fill out that quota to say “we’ve got one [black] person there”.

And that is it … yeah, because I’d never really experienced racism until I started fashion.

On Friday 26th July, Yaaya will post the penultimate part of our spotlight mini-series on fashion designer Hazel Aggrey-Orleans. This part of the conversation will explore Hazel’s interpretation of ‘African fashion’. Then we will delve into an important subject concerning the social invisibility and representation of black women in the fashion industry.

Want to see more of Hazel’s stunning collections? Check them out on her website http://www.ekiorleans.com!

Image Source | These images do not belong to Yaaya. Images courtesy of Hazel Aggrey-Orleans and the Eki Orleans website

Yaaya | iamyaaya

@iamyaaya

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Wednesday, July 24, 2013