Henna Art
Also, an important form of art in Somaliland is henna painting (Somali: Xenna, Arabic: حناء). The Henna plant is widely grown across the region and it was Arab merchants and settlers that first brought the art of Henna painting in early Somaliland. During special occasions, a Somali women's hands and feet are expected to be covered in decorative mendhi. Girls and women usually apply or decorate their hands and feet in henna on joyous celebrations like Eid, weddings etc. The henna designs can be very simple to highly intricate. Unlike Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi henna designs, the Somali and Arab designs are more geometric and simple compared to the latter. Traditionally, only women apply this body art and it is absolutely strange for men to apply such art on their hands and feet.
Henna is not only applied on the hands and feet but at the same time it is used as a dye. Somali men and women alike use henna as a dye to change their hair colour. Mostly, elderly men with grey hair color their hair with henna because the use of black hair dye is forbidden in Islam. Women are free to apply the vibrant henna to their hair as most of the time it is hidden from public view under a hijab.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Somaliland, Arts
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