I've been curating a super Afro-centered curation, so look at my Virgin Mary, with the little black angels too. This comb is from Ethiopia. I like to bring little things back from my travels.
This painting is also a second hand purchase You have a wonderful eye for finding gems Wow, it's huge. I broke everything to have this beautiful view of this garden. The view reminds me of the beach!
Paint the closet doors halfway That's a good idea, Can I see your bathroom? Of course, it's super interesting This bathroom is so big it looks like a studio apartment Look how beautiful this place is, guys! I'm going to bring you with me today to see a beautiful house belonging to someone I love and that I really wanted to show you.
I wanted to visit this house a long time ago and before I enter, I wanted to suggest you Subscribe to the channel I show houses across Brazil and the world, remember to activate the bell, because every time I publish a new video He warns you, okay? And another thing, if you want to become a member of the channel, Become a member, because I always record extra videos for us. Now I'm going to turn this camera around and we're going to enter this beautiful house.
Look at the work of art. Alexandra! Where is she?
You may come in? All good? How are you doing my dear?
And she speaks French Are you from Paris? I'm from Paris, but I've lived in São Paulo for 12 years . Very Brazilian!
And look, there are several things I would like to show. I bought this house during the pandemic and renovated it and curated it super Afro-centric, so look at my Virgin Mary, with the little black angels too. And where is this beautiful work from?
Here from Brazil! I found it at a second-hand sale and it's next to this wonderful door. One of the things I preserved during the house renovation Was it a major renovation?
I renovated the house because it was pretty destroyed and abandoned, I bought it and renovated it. It was a combination of good energy when buying this house. I love talking about good energy!
This is a shelf where I like to place objects that match my personality. So I bought this in Thailand. It's a pair of sneakers, but with a small Banksy piece And I face it with a work of art The bookshelf has become an art gallery This comb is from Ethiopia.
I like to bring little things back from my travels. These shoes are from Bolivia. You were a French consul in Brazil, right?
Yes, from 2012 to 2016 We came to Brazil for my husband Damien's position and we stayed here afterwards for my professional career, because I developed my career here in the consultancy field to help companies bring more diversity and inclusion and help women move up in senior leadership. So, I've been doing this work for many years and it worked, so at this point I want to invite you to follow her and become a big fan of hers, because she really has a beautiful work that I wanted you to explain, including about this empowerment and this way in which you help women and people from different places. in Brazil.
What's your Instagram? My Instagram is Alexandra Loras I developed this activity because when I arrived here, as a black woman, within the elite I noticed something wrong. Because through carnival, through football, I always saw miscegenation, Brazilian diversity.
But when I arrived here, moving through the Senate, Congress, the executive leadership of companies, in all the narratives of elite Brazilian parties, I never saw any black woman. I was always the only one. Sometimes there was Rachel Maia, Thaís Araújo and Gloria Maria.
Only that. In a society with 56% black people, with 118 million black people? I found this approach, this segregation and cordial apartheid, very strange, because it is not with laws, it is cultural.
So I started to bring up this subject and suddenly, I started to discuss this issue of erasure, of silencing with many people from black activism . And today we have helped many organizations, more than 150 multinational companies, to hire thousands of black people. And also, I've been doing wonderful work at Bradesco for five years, helping women rise professionally to senior leadership.
Five years ago at Bradesco, there were no female directors. Today there are nine and most of them were mentored by me. What an important work you do.
Thank you for that! See why you need to follow her now and send her positive messages? Because we are very inspired.
Thank you thank you. And I will show you my Institute later We want to know and we will all be your fans What was this celebration? Here is my uncle, with the former president of The Gambia.
My origins are from Gambia, my aunt was a representative at the UN in New York from Gambia. So, bringing travel objects that tell these stories is part of your life. For example, I bought this in churches, in church stores, objects to pay for promises.
I think they're super beautiful to decorate. It's different, right? But I like to mix things up.
This is the straw with which, in my father's village, We wash with it. Gambian village? Yes, in my father's village, in Gambia.
Like a bath sponge So I buy things like that. Here are types of wood that are placed in water to perfume, scent the water, and clean. This is very connected with my origins.
I take Ayahuasca, sacred plants, so in my art there will always be a bit of African culture from the Tupinambá, Tupi-Guarani cultures , also in this triptych of the Amazon rainforest, The author's name is Ivo. It's a beautiful painting, I loved it! I really liked these light inputs.
Is this already original to the house? Yes! And here in the living room you decorated it with these two sofas.
Do you stay in this room a lot? I stay more in that part that has the fireplace. How beautiful this fireplace is.
The cold days here must be cozy. As you said, you created an Afro-centered decoration. Do you have all kinds of objects?
Yes, here are some statues, This painting is also a second-hand purchase You have a wonderful eye for finding gems And the door? One more! Beautiful!
Look at this painting! It's by a Brazilian artist called Silvia Soares. And she asked me to collect many photos of my life.
And she made a collage Are you with photos of your life? Here's my mother. And when I made the cover of Brasileiros magazine This is my uncle.
This is my father. There are many images of my life. When I was a nanny in Germany.
This was the countess I worked for. When I was 17, I was a nanny in Germany. Here are the children.
when I was a nanny And so my entire story, covers of various magazines This is the cover of my book. I don't know if you remember this controversial photo. Many people remember this photo as a Vogue cover.
And it wasn't a cover, it was a provocation we did. Remember Paola from Orleans and Bragança She agreed to dress as a maid She is the great-great-granddaughter of Princess Isabel. And she agreed to do an advert for Vogue, precisely switching places.
The white women dressed as maids, serving five black women. She works with Bruno Astuto Was it on the cover of Vogue? It wasn't, but it was so controversial that we were finalists for the Globo Awards as image of the year.
Incredible. So people remembering it as if it was a Vogue cover AND it wasn't a cover. And now I'm going to remember it even more by seeing this image again.
We received thousands of racist comments and insults. With this provocation. This announcement was not to be liked.
It was to provoke reflection. If we are all equal, then why can't an aristocrat dress up as a maid serving black women? Joyce Ribeiro, who presented Jornal das Oito on TV Cultura, Dani Ornelas, actress of several soap operas on Globo and Samira from the Ford agency who is an international model.
And we were dressed as boys, but no one noticed. I noticed more for you and for them This one is more feminine. They were very masculine clothes, which is also another provocation.
I wanted to know where you got this beautiful work. I bought it in Embú das Artes, Embu das Artes, and you know that in addition to loving the work, I loved that there are two missing. I think it's one of the things that seems old.
In fact, they sold me this work telling me it was from the 18th century. I have doubts, because some parts were missing and they were able to do the repair on the same day. When I moved here, they broke.
I still need to glue it. I thought it was part of the work. How many doors does this house have?
Here is another art gallery Yes, with two works that are, for me, the best graffiti artist in São Paulo. He has works at Galeria Sétima Alma in Vila Madalena. Then there's his father.
It is too. You said you had someone who helped you with the decoration. And how are you when it comes to decorating?
What did you learn from the person? What did you exchange together? What you asked?
What is important to you? What I really liked about Fernanda Gazola is that she knew how to read me, she knew how to read my essence, which has a lot to do with diversity and inclusion. And from Street Art, street art with graffiti, with connections linked to Europe, Africa, but in a very eclectic style .
I asked an Embú das Artes store to make black angels and when it arrived I saw that they just They painted They don't have black noses, they're very European. They don't have curly hair , but anyway, it's a lot of change. I was very happy that you chose Brazil, given so many countries you've lived in and so many possibilities and you chose Brazil, which needs your work so much.
Thank you very much. I lived in eight countries in total, but Brazil really grabbed me and we needing you. What a beautiful work!
It's a digital work by Junior Schön, an artist I really like, I collect several of his works and he became my friend, I met him with Vanderlei Nunes, the hairdresser. This is the guest room. Where are we going?
Can I see your bathroom? Of course, it's super interesting I love this earthy color An aubergine color A bathroom and art gallery Did you also buy it at an antique fair? Not all of them This one was a second-hand fair, The others are copies of Cusco art, I think I bought it in Embú das Artes too Interesting, when I went in, I thought it was a mirror This aubergine color, beautiful And your good eye for finding art second hand We have to learn from you Most of them here were bought second hand because I really like the spontaneity of recycling, of giving objects a second life.
This is my work. How cool! Is it digital?
I did a digital study I made this connection which was very controversial, we even made the cover of the newspaper Folha De São Paulo with this controversy. It appeared in Jornal Nacional, when I had an exhibition at the Art Gallery on Rua Gabriel Monteiro da Silva. This work was very, very controversial.
So I took white personalities like Silvio Santos, Jô Soares, Xuxa, everyone and portrayed them as black. So here was the Queen of England. I painted my melanin over her body, I made curly hair.
Everything is a photoshop job. And then when we did the printing. I invited a collective of pixadores from São Paulo, basically, those artists who perform to denounce poverty, denounce the distance of this entire population from the homeless.
I wanted to invite them because when I arrived in Brazil, I didn't really understand graffiti. I thought, like many people, vandalism is an aggressive thing. When I started researching graffiti, I began to understand it as art, as performance, as denunciation, as contemporary language of expression, I began to become interested and began to approach several artists and invited them to be part of this act.
So Mia, who is a great artist today, who also performs at SP Arte, invades because pixação is not an invitation, it is an invasion. They used the language of pixação to invade my canvases, with those eggs they throw full of paint. So we used this narrative.
It was an exposure that helped a lot in hiring hundreds of black multinational people, because I helped white people see what it would be like if it were the other way around. The spaces of power over a black narrative and always thinking that we are all equal, that we are in democracy. But not quite.
Thank you very much. I think that's the word I want to say. Thank you very much for your Very Important contribution .
Look, we have more construction here. Where is this corridor going? To my room.
Here is my mother My brother Jean Paul who lives in Bahia, who married a Brazilian and my sister Odile, who lives in the south of France. And me here. So we have the same mother, but not the same father That's why my brothers are blonde with blue eyes Is this you?
This is my work too. It was the first one I did about 17 years ago. It was the beginning of this reasoning about that exposition of the inversion.
I took a work by Broglie and took the princess he painted and put my face on it and after that, 15 years later I realized that I became the greatest authority to represent France here in Brazil. In the context of São Paulo's diplomacy, I realized the power of a joke, the power of this image. That's why I invited Princess Paola De Orleans e Bragança, and her husband to take the photo.
I also started doing my work with Junior Schön and my connection of all these characters. And it's like that, years later we see more black people in all advertisements, in soap operas, because I worked a lot with Globo and Conde Nast, with many companies. So all these seeds of awareness blossomed!
Congratulations! The dining room joins the living room This sideboard must be from Embú das Artes How beautiful is this bookshelf on wheels I recently brought it from another house It's made of iron! I like it because it's not too wide.
I love it when it's like that. The house is all connected. Do you entertain a lot at home?
I receive a lot at the Institute, which you will see below. Look how cool this piece of furniture is. Does it open and close?
It's a bar that my husband designed there in Bali. We built it in Bali and it has been accompanying us on our travels across all countries. Are you loving this house and all this talk?
Look how important everything she is saying is, so watch this video again, share this video with everyone and follow Alexandra, because every word she is saying here is very important, because we need to internalize and live our lives. Alessandra where are you? Wow, it's huge.
Here it is. . .
Look how beautiful the straw lamps Are you going to hang this chandelier? I had my son's birthday party, so I had 30 boys sleeping here. I need to tidy up a little.
Tell me about the Instituto Aqui with the “Black Sisters in Law”, which is an organization “Blake Sisters in Law” There are 3 thousand black lawyers Many of them went back to cleaning or babysitting because they couldn't get clients and couldn't get hired for law firms and all with an OAB professional card, I decided to bring my etiquette knowledge of how to build your personal brand, how to empower yourself, because these girls managed to be the first in their generations to be able to study, because their great-grandparents were, perhaps still from the time of slavery and they are the first to be able to enter universities thanks to quotas for black people. Many of them are what they didn't learn there, how to present themselves and what they didn't learn in the elite game, how to navigate these extremely prejudiced spaces. So we hold meetings, most of them online, but we also did some in person and I use this space to welcome women.
So, as I told you, I received you in a very informal way in my home and I love it that way. And these paintings here? They gave it a personality and look at the shape of this window, it has this different shape.
I'm noticing that it has wheels that match that shelf we saw up there, But I want to get here to this mirror with you so that people can Now look at the importance she spoke about the lawyers who couldn't place themselves in the market because of prejudice This also happens in our world of architecture, you know? And there are even black female architects. It is very important that we learn, that we listen, that we understand everything that you go through so that we can be and this change that we want to see in the world.
And an agent of transformation. I have a black friend, a Brazilian architect who lives in New York because he couldn't find work here in Brazil and had to export himself to another country to be successful. And today he builds a lot of Starbucks stores, but here in Brazil, because he's black, a fantastic architect, he couldn't get a job.
Are you understanding all of this? And for us to learn and do, act and be agents of change Us The paintings were Westwing's idea. Westwing also participated in the creation of the Institute.
So I did six training sessions on diversity and inclusion at their company and in return we did several actions for the Institute, for them to create this welcoming place and part of the decoration. Congratulations! Very important, including you not writing a book?
Come see this! I never forgot the children's book you wrote, Look at my Barbie collection, the PWD Barbie with a disability is also albino. And the LGBTQIA+, with shaved hair How cool!
a man with braids, my Barbie collection. Do you know Master Irineia's crafts? I went to visit her at Quilombo Zumbi dos Palmares and in her studio.
This one actually came from there, it didn't come from the Milan Universal Exhibition, because I saw all her works there. But I'm very happy with diversity, more and more. In recent years we have seen much more diversity, much more work and opportunities.
You are already reaping the results, right? Are you already reaping the practical results of all this in companies? I see!
He is still shy, but we can already see a change. Very good! Look at that necklace.
When I made the Westwing cover in my other house, look what a great idea to do in the bathroom with this design that blends into the floor And all in concrete Moroccan Inspiration and has a good rug, the way I place rugs. Wow! Look at the view from the kitchen!
This kitchen only had tilting windows. Upstairs I broke everything to have this beautiful view over this garden. The view reminds me of the beach!
Look here on the screen. It feels like you are at the beach. What a huge kitchen.
The garden has banana trees, coconut trees Cooking here is relaxing I also made a design with these designs on the floor, it's called hydraulic tiles I also made this design of the window, different geometric designs This idea is great! Instead of a plain window with the right designs, make it like this, all mixed together. It became a work of art.
There are works of art everywhere in the house. These flowers are beautiful. Does your room start here, at that door?
there at the end Look at the window overlooking the flowers outside. Here you painted it gray , which is more sober for resting. Can you show it here?
I loved this window solution. Allow more natural light to enter This bathroom is so big that it looks like a studio apartment This style of flooring then became a hallmark of the house and I saw this flooring in Bahia in Trancoso, in an architect's house. And I liked it so much that I asked her to do a project for the kitchen and bathrooms And look how beautiful it is all made of cement I really like Morocco I live a little here and a little in Morocco Morocco is relatively close to Brazil You only use a curtain but This was a quick finalization because you know.
. . at the end of the project, when nothing is finished, there comes a time when we move and send everyone away.
In fact, this is a good tip, A renovation never seems to end. . .
Change- as soon as possible because otherwise the reform will never end. Here there is a balcony with a view of this tree in full bloom. The garden.
And my neighbor's pool. You become friends with your neighbor How cool! Very good!
I like it when the walls are more sober. and the colors in the details like the bedding, because you can always change Rafael's room, my son. How beautiful this bed is.
There is art here too. From Junior Schön He really became a friend. Did you already have this beautiful closet?
but I painted it all gray. it was all wood. Tell me about that hat?
This is from my father's village. This is a Fulani hat, the Fulanis are my tribe. In Gambia it's all leather and straw.
How beautiful! And when you say my father's tribe, does he still live there? Unfortunately he died, but my whole family, a good part of them lives there and others live in New York.
Washington DC in several places, but in the United States in Spain. Gambia was anglophone, so there aren't many in France. My father was an exception He had a fascination with France, He met and married my mother I have something here to show you, but it is very messed up.
Are we going to show a messy room? We love it! I'm separating things to donate But I wanted to show you this panel Look how great!
Tell me! This was an idea to get, I have so many art books with beautiful photos. So I ripped out some pages and made framed pictures.
It comes from French and I made this mix. That was when I was a guest on the Roda Viva program on TV Cultura. And I also mixed it with necklaces, with baskets.
And it's also an idea that I really liked. Paint the cabinet doors in half This idea is good, there are people who do it and then follow it with the wall. Look how beautiful!
It really changes a lot when you paint it like this, And here you did it in the same color So people, do like her, make donations. And truth! There are always people in need.
I receive a lot of gifts from brands, Sometimes I like to let objects, things have a second life and make many people happy. Do you want to see my garden? Let's see her garden now.
In love with these doors Look how beautiful! It's a mini forest you live here, right? Look how beautiful!
Look at all this, right? They are giants. There are many little birds that we hear.
Do you really enjoy your garden? When you welcome people, do you welcome people here too? I'll welcome you when I have more time, But I heard there's cake, Shall we have coffee and cake?
Let's go! Thank you for welcoming me with so much affection, with so much love, so many smiles and good energy and with so many wonderful teachings. Thank you very much!
Repeat your Instagram here so everyone can follow you. Alexandra Loras, Follow her and send lots of positive messages Give me a hug! Thank you Bye guys!
We love a very beautiful and decorated house, right? And you? Do you want to learn decoration with me?
Then click here on my EU DECOR course You will love learning decoration in a fun way Want to watch more videos? Click here and let's go together.