Inner Lives by Maryam Turaki

Zara: “Identity for m...olving and changing.”

Zara: “Identity for me, is how I present myself how I say: “This is who I am and this who I want the world to know that I am”. I can decide that this is the hill that I want to die on, this is who I want to tell the world, just essentially this is me, take me for who I am. The great thing about Identity is that it is constantly evolving and changing.”

Rahama: “I draw from ...at make me who I am.”

Rahama: “I draw from family, faith, and experiences. I have an idea of my identity but I can’t really pin it down, for me, that’s really what works, I like that about myself. If anything, I can always go back to these 3 things I mentioned which are fundamentally the things that make me who I am.”

Zara: “Identity for me, is how I present myself how I say: “This is who I am and this who I want the world to know that I am”. I can decide that this is the hill that I want to die on, this is who I want to tell the world, just essentially this is me, take me for who I am. The great thing about Identity is that it is constantly evolving and changing.”

Zanak: "I don&rsqu...m very unpredictable."

Zanak: "I don’t like to describe myself, I don’t like to talk about myself that much. I prefer that people just experience who I am at the time. I don’t think I’m the same person every time. I’m very unpredictable."

Xoxa: “I like to see ...come out of Nigeria.”

Xoxa: “I like to see myself as light. That being the virtue of what I do, the kind of ideas that I have, it’s always such a blessing to see how people react to the ideas that I bring to life. I think the work that I do has shed quite a lot of light there are original and authentic art forms that can come out of Nigeria.”

Zanak: "I don’t like to describe myself, I don’t like to talk about myself that much. I prefer that people just experience who I am at the time. I don’t think I’m the same person every time. I’m very unpredictable."

Chef Safiya: “You can...th women in Nigeria.”

Chef Safiya: “You can’t keep putting someone in a box, the box will break at some point, which is what I see happening lately with women in Nigeria.”

Ansih: “I like the bi...w I see my identity”.

Ansih: “I like the bird so much because it is free to go where ever it wants to go and it can only limit itself. That is how I see my identity”.

Hadiza: "No one had to... daughter and sister."

Hadiza: "No one had told me that power could come from sex, that having sex and not feeling bad about yourself is a really strong type of feminism, especially in Nigeria. Duty describes my identity, I still feel I have a duty to my family to be a daughter and sister."

Xoxa: “I like to see myself as light. That being the virtue of what I do, the kind of ideas that I have, it’s always such a blessing to see how people react to the ideas that I bring to life. I think the work that I do has shed quite a lot of light there are original and authentic art forms that can come out of Nigeria.”

Keren-Happuch: "My ide... I am expected to be."

Keren-Happuch: "My identity right now is a struggling one. It’s a constant battle between who I truly am deep inside and who I am expected to be."

Rahama: “I draw from family, faith, and experiences. I have an idea of my identity but I can’t really pin it down, for me, that’s really what works, I like that about myself. If anything, I can always go back to these 3 things I mentioned which are fundamentally the things that make me who I am.”

Chef Safiya: “You can’t keep putting someone in a box, the box will break at some point, which is what I see happening lately with women in Nigeria.”

Fareedah: "I used to b...t or disappoint them?"

Fareedah: "I used to be selfish, I never really cared about what other people wanted or expected of me, but now I pay attention to people’s expectations of me. Trying the find that balance between who I am and what other people want it’s harder than I thought it would be. How do I stay true to myself and also not stress people out or disappoint them?"

Hadiza: "No one had told me that power could come from sex, that having sex and not feeling bad about yourself is a really strong type of feminism, especially in Nigeria. Duty describes my identity, I still feel I have a duty to my family to be a daughter and sister."

Ansih: “I like the bird so much because it is free to go where ever it wants to go and it can only limit itself. That is how I see my identity”.

Keren-Happuch: "My identity right now is a struggling one. It’s a constant battle between who I truly am deep inside and who I am expected to be."

Maryam Turaki

Also by Maryam Turaki —

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