There were lots of youngsters walking around the Saltaire Festival with beautifully painted faces - tigers and butterflies and all manner of other creative face-paintings. I also came across this young lady doing Mehndi tattooing, an elaborate but temporary tattoo drawn in henna. It's an art form that developed in the Indian sub-continent but is widely practised here among communities of Asian origin, for ceremonial occasions like weddings and festivals. It seems to be something that has developed a wider appeal for young girls and it's a nice thing to see them carefully painting each other's hands with these ancient and traditional patterns.
I saw lots of this in the Berber villages of the High Atlas mountains in Morocco. It's a wonderful tradition.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing the girls wanted, when we arrived at the main Cambridge Folk Festival site, was a henna tattoo. Did you go for one, yourself?
ReplyDeleteNo, Martin, I didn't - the queue was long.
DeleteWe have it here too especially at school fetes.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get the tattoo thing. It's grown very popular here and I still cringe when a see a young person with one, or even an old person, for that matter. At least the henna ones are temporary.
ReplyDeleteI think these can be beautiful. I have seen Indian women over here with elaborate henna ornamentation. AND, they wash away or wear away, which is a good thing if one develops regrets . . .
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