Ardennes envisions a world where tolerance and morals are the core of society, and where acceptance and ethics transcend nations and genders. Ardennes is studying Bachelor Design – Trends & Identity and spent the autumn semester 2022/23 at the HFBK Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg.
ZHdK International Dossier: How did you choose the university for your exchange semester?
Ardennes Fatimah Ornati: First, I wanted to improve my written and spoken German. Second, the HFBK's study programme seemed very intriguing to me. Third, I was convinced by other people's positive experiences about living and studying in Hamburg.
My doubts about not going far enough to find a real change or meaningful experience completely disappeared after my arrival.
What has been the biggest surprise in the new city?
Hamburg is a port city that was completely bombed and destroyed during the Second World War and is rebuilt on a long history of trade and colonialism. It is therefore not surprising that the diaspora of the Middle East and North Africa is strongly established here. All over the city you can find a wide range of typical Lebanese to Moroccan specialities, Persian carpets and oriental spices.
Common in these cultures, social interaction plays an important role in daily life, and being very extroverted myself, I have plenty of friends from these regions. I now spend many evenings discussing the cultural, political and social differences in society with locals and non-Western fellow students, and how our backgrounds shape us profoundly. From falafel to “Fisch and Brötchen”, Hamburg has surprised me greatly with its cultural heterogeneity!
What has been the biggest challenge of your semester abroad?
Getting used to the new education system. Germany might not be far from Switzerland, yet the educational approach to design and art at the HFBK differs a lot from the one at the ZHdK. The motto in Hamburg is: “Students are learning here, not professors”. With this, the university aims to foster the students' self-initiative and independence as well as artistic research in their practice. This offers many advantages, since it gives much freedom and space for experimentation, but also disadvantages, such as a certain lack of motivation or deadlines.
Overall, however, this experience has allowed me to better understand what kind of education I want to pursue after my Bachelor's degree and to more appreciate the system offered by the ZHdK.
What do you wish you’d known before leaving for your exchange?
Firstly, going abroad doesn't mean that everything will be better – but different.
Secondly, you don't need to go to the other side of the world to find a difference. I believe there is a tendency to romanticise the experience or to have certain expectations. Don't get me wrong, my exchange so far has been a blast, and I would recommend it to everybody. Yet it would be wrong to say that I have not felt lonely and exhausted many times as well.