The colour of warmth, love and laughter

Africa is known for its bold, unapologetic use of colour. Stories are told in pigments, tones and hues; a kaleidoscope as diverse as the cultures and peoples of the continent. For the initiative Colours of Africa, a collaborative project with Google Arts & Culture, we asked 60 African creatives to capture the unique spirit of their country in a colour which represents home to them.

The projects they have created are personal and distinct stories of Africa, put into images, videos, texts and illustrations. Each artist has also attempted to articulate what being African means to their identity and view of the world.

Colour:Adorn
Country:Somalia

Artwork Rationale:

I chose henna to represent the intimacy between women. It's usually applied before a celebratory event. I associate it with fun-filled, chatty rooms that are buzzing away with an energy of anticipation but also the application process of henna forces a sort of pause and stillness upon the hands it's being applied to. It's a moment of respite from all the inevitable labour that your hands will be involved in once the henna has set. It's a lovely tradition that has been maintained by the Somali diaspora wherever they have landed in the world.

The colour is henna, and it varies from light orange to deep brown. It also has a particularly earthy smell that is deeply centring and uplifting. I remember that smell.

When I began hunting for a colour that could represent Somalia, I knew I wanted to collaborate with someone who is based there. This way we recognise the amazing creative work going on there, despite difficulties with ongoing conflicts.

I contacted Fardosa Hussein, a documentary photographer and videographer based in Somalia to see if she would collaborate. She provided an atmospheric series of photos of two young women doing henna. The photos speak to Somali women’s hands and craft, cooking and care.

Inspired by Hawa Hassan’s book cover I focused on henna and hands. There is something so familiar about care that is taken to colour and pattern the hands, whether it’s just a simple tip of fingers or more intricate designs for celebrations. When I see this, it reminds me of the comfort and care that our mothers, aunties and grandmothers take with cooking, crafting and praying. This picture by Fardosa beautifully represents Somalia.

What it means to be African

How to define what it means to be African? The question is not something I understand. To be African is to be human. It's growth and constant learning, remembering our stories and those of our ancestors. For me it's also laughter and joy.

Biography

Fozia Ismail is a scholar, cook and founder of Arawelo Eats, a platform for exploring politics, identity and colonialism through East African food.

She has designed and delivered workshops and presentations for organisations such as Keep It Complex, Company Drinks, Serpentine Gallery, Jerwood Project Space, Tate Modern, Museum of London, National Trust -Colonial Countryside Project, Media Bounty, Barings Bank – Oxford Cultural Collective, Courtauld Art Institute, London School of Economics and was Bristol City Fellow for Arnolfini Contemporary Art Center in 2019 for her project Camel Meat & Tapes.

Her work has been published by Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery (2017 & 2019) and she has designed lecture and seminar series on Food & Empire for London School of Economics and for Black Book a global representation platform for black and non-white people working within hospitality and food media.

Ismail has been featured on Observer Food Magazine, BBC Radio 4 Food Programme, Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery Ox Tales podcast, Food 52, London Eater, Vice Munchies, Vittles & Bristol 24/7. She recently co-produced a podcast on Cassette Tapes with Caraboo Projects.
When not critically eating her way through life’s messiness she can be found plotting with her sisters in arms Ayan Cilmi and fellow Pervasive Media Resident, Asmaa Jama as part of dhaqan collective, a Somali feminist art collective in Bristol.