#APHRODIZZIAK Real Fans ⁣⁣

YES Aïcha ⁣

WHO⁣

I’m a curator of contemporary art, writer and researcher, currently working at Tate and about to start a PhD in legacies of slavery and empire in the art museum ⁣ ⁣

FAVOURITE THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO ⁣

It’s such an honour to be able to acquire works of art for the Tate collection which will be preserved for future generations. Also working directly with contemporary artists is amazing⁣ ⁣

LISTENING TO 

Alice Coltrane, Khruangbin, Nirvana, Tony Allen and Metallica⁣
⁣WATCHING

Summer of Soul and Roma⁣⁣

READING 

Communion by Bell Hooks. Also all the Stuart Hall for an exhibition I’m curating ⁣ ⁣

SWEAR-BY BEAUTY TIP ⁣

Only ever using cold water to wash my face – never hot ⁣ ⁣

SWEAR-BY HAIR TIP ⁣

Cutting it myself – I haven’t been to the hairdresser in about 10 years. This will horrify hairdressers but I just whack it into a plait and chop off the end⁣ ⁣

A SMALL JOY ⁣

My cat Vinnie’s paws⁣ ⁣

WASH ROUTINE ⁣

I know it’s bad but I probably wash my hair every day. I use shampoo and then a leave in conditioner and scrunch up my hair and wrap it in a T-shirt⁣ ⁣

WHY DIZZIAK ⁣

I swim a lot and I can’t bear swimming caps so my hair gets regularly pummelled by chlorine. Dizziak is the only thing that sorts out my hair after a big ole chloriney swim. It also smells heavenly⁣ ⁣

GREAT HAIR MEMORY ⁣

Honestly I think I’m in my hair prime now!⁣ ⁣

NIGHTMARE HAIR STORY⁣

I look like Einstein if I brush my hair when it’s dry⁣ 

⁣ICONIC FIGURE ⁣

Stuart Hall – as a person of mixed heritage growing up in Britain, his ideas around cultural identity ring so true with me. He describes identity as a matter of becoming rather than simply being, and argues that identities of ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class resist coalescence around a single axis of differentiation and are constantly undergoing transformation. He presented everything so thoughtfully and gracefully and was just an all round brilliant mind ⁣ ⁣

IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ⁣

New York and Algeria are calling out to me in particular but I’d also just really like to go to my Grandma’s house and give her a hug⁣ ⁣

BEST PIECE OF ADVICE⁣

Wisest is she who knows she knows not⁣