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No one ever thinks the Holy Grail is in their backyard. And ... going on quests is such FUN!
This is my idea of a holy grail for henna. I got to sit second
desk back, with my best lenses, looking at original Persian manuscripts,
copying down henna patterns form the 15th and 16th centuries.
These manuscripts aren't in Akron Ohio, that's for sure! So, I buy
plane tickets and go stand in lines with my passport in my hand, seeking
all sorts of henna grails:
Bits and pieces of culture go bouncing all over the planet. It's a good thing, mostly. People negotiate their identity through symbols, to mark themselves as exotic, or assminlated, confrontational or cooperative, attracting attention or becoming invisible ... and this negotiation changes every day as needs be. Henna is one of the body markers that speaks of the person to other people, and in different ways depending on who's wearing it and who's seeing it. Music is another marker ... what you listen to, what you create, what you fill your space with. Food is an indentity marker, what you're willing to eat on a dare, what you eat for comfort, what you eat out of curiousity, what you wouldn't eat even if famished. Henna bounces around. Music bounces around. Food bounces around. The permutations are mostly good. Mostly. Sometimes ethnic people feel they "own" a piece of culture and feel they know how it "should" be. Sometimes ethnic people get very angry that white people have "stolen" their henna. Some blacks are affronted that white boys "rap". Someone, a very long ways from Mexico, served me a "fajita" that had green grapes and raw carrots and Thai hot and sour sauce. They seemed very pleased with it, ... but they'd never had Mexican home cooking. I lived in the US Southwest for a few decades .... and I have some firm and passionate opinions about what one does and does not put in a tortilla. Some indigenous people react to western interest in henna like I reacted that "fajita". Some people who have lived with henna all their lives have firm and passionate opinions about who can and cannot do henna, and exactly how it should be done. Some indigenous people react to henna as if goat greens were just given them rather than their beloved "British Salad". Negotiations. We're always negotiating. My negotiations? I adore henna. I don't ever want to see cold baked beans, slimy institutional macaroni salad, and bottled Thousand Island Dressing on grey Iceberg lettuce again, EVER. |
