Colour Me Cultured is a portraiture series presenting young Nigerian women who have adopted unconventional appearances (e.g. unnaturally coloured hair and other body adornments). These women have freed themselves from the generic representations of femininity within the wider discourse of propriety, taking full control of their expressiveness.  

However, their colour choices were inspired by those on the Dutch Wax fabrics (aka Ankara fabrics) now synonymous with West African Culture. So, it becomes somewhat hypocritical to label them ‘uncultured’ or ‘improper’ simply because they are not wearing these prints/colours the conventional way.   

Women should have room for self-expression through experimentation using something as small yet as significant as colour, without feeling the need to conform to society’s acceptance. 


Colour Me Cultured

Often finding style inspiration from Nollybabes*, Anjola is constantly praised by her peers for her fashion sense—from the darkest lip liner to the thinnest brows— and particularly, her seemingly patriotic incorporation of green in her appearance - to match the Nigerian flag. 

Being the jovial young woman that she is, she often finds this impression amusing but knows that the real reason for her colour choice is her belief in attracting wealth, good fortune and favour as the meaning of her name (“wealth of God”) implies. Like any real Nollybabe, she is “allergic to poverty” so "money green" will supposedly enable her attract even more than material wealth.

*Young women in Nollywood (Nigerian Film industry) known for their iconic behaviours and styles in the late 1990s-early 2000s.

Anjola

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