Henna art: World Heritage

Henna art: World Heritage

by | General jewellery topics

Henna unesco world heritage

Henna: adornment as World Heritage

Published on December 16, 2024

In December 2024, henna was inscribed on the World Heritage List! That is hugely significant, and so it’s time to explore this art form a little more.

What does UNESCO say about henna?

First, let’s have a look at why henna has been promoted to World Heritage. The exact definition is Henna: rituals, aesthetic and social practices. You’ll note that it is far more than just the aesthetic part. In fact, that is only mentioned second, after rituals and followed by social practices. That is hugely significant, as it acknowledges the importance of henna art as a social agent.

The text on the UNESCO website reads:

‘Perceived as sacred by communities in Northern Africa and the Middle East, its leaves are harvested twice a year, left to dry, then ground and processed to create a paste. The specific ingredients and techniques used to prepare the paste vary according to the intended use and country. Henna paste is commonly used by women for adornment, such as to dye hair and fingertips or to decorate hands and feet.

A symbol of joy, it is used in everyday life and on festive occasions such as births and weddings. Henna branches, leaves and paste are also used in crafts and for medicinal purposes, including the treatment of certain skin diseases.

Its use is frequently accompanied by oral expressions such as chants, songs, proverbs and poems, and is linked to centuries-old societal rules and traditions. This includes knowledge related to the cultivation and care of the henna tree and the preparation and application of the paste. Families and communities transmit the traditions through observation and hands-on practice.

Today, organizations, beauty centres, universities and the media also contribute to their transmission. A key component of traditional events, henna rituals enhance social bonds and promote communication.’ [1]

I particularly appreciate that henna here is not just represented as the end product (an adorned something), but that the process itself, from leaves to paste, is part of the World Heritage nomination, too.

Henna as transnational heritage

A second important aspect of this nomination is that it has been proposed to UNESCO by a number of countries. Those are:

Algeria
Saudi Arabia
Bahrain
Egypt
United Arab Emirates
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Morocco
Mauritania
Oman
State of Palestine
Qatar
Sudan
Tunisia
Yemen

That does justice to its transnational use, instead of one country claiming it exclusively. Sadly, this happens regularly with for example jewellery that is traditionally worn by people living on both sides of a modern border – they seem to forget that their heritage is older than that border. Fortunately, the insciption of henna art recognises that it is not the prerogative of one country only!

Henna and its many uses

Henna is used in personal grooming, for example as hair care product. The green powder, ground of its dried leaves, is added to boiling water and worked into a paste that is applied to the hair, left in for some time and rinsed out. Henna not only colours the hair with a warm reddish colour, but also nourishes and adds shine. It is used throughout the Arab world, and has been since Antiquity.

Henna is a key element in wedding proceedings: not just for the bride, but for all female attendees. The use of henna is not limited to weddings alone, but is seen in all festive occasions such as religious holidays.

Quite often henna paste was perfumed as well; Freya Stark described a wedding she attended in the Hadramaut, Yemen, where the women had applied heavily scented henna as hair, facial and body decoration. [2]

Henna was regarded as very efficient against jinn and brought blessing (baraka) to the wearer. This is why we encounter henna not only in a form of paint, but also as actual leaves during the henna event of the wedding proceedings. In certain regions of Morocco, among the gifts presented to the bride, either on her henna or on the day of the marriage itself, would also be a basket with eggs lying in henna leaves: these were believed to bring both fertility and prosperity to the bride as well as the blessing intrinsically present in henna leaves.

The patterns on the skin that are drawn with henna extend much deeper than the surface: they bless, remember stories kept in a collective memory, and connect generations, much the colours and patterns in dress and jewellery. These patterns varied from family to family, as they incorporated oral history.

Henna as an art form is always changing. Patterns are shared within the family, not through pattern books, and so tracing the development of a design or the perfect scented henna mixture is a long process.

That is why it is so important that this aspect of henna art, too, is recognised in the World Heritage nomination!

Henna as a process

What is often described as ‘body decoration’, is actually the many-layered visible and olfactory aspect of a transformative process. The individual components of these paint mixtures carried meaning: a specific colour protected and blessed, the added scents amplified these qualities.

The act of preparing and applying was in itself an intimate transformation ritual, where history, blessing and kinship materialized in colour, scent and designs. This process has also been acknowledged in the nomination file:

Henna farmers and the individuals involved in drying, grinding, and processing henna leaves are perhaps the most prominent group concerned with the element.

Merchants and apothecaries that sell ready-to-use or dried henna are considered bearers of the element. This category also includes women that practice the element by designing henna engravings. The women practicing this craft are known by various names. For example, they are referred to as Neqqasha in Morocco, al hannana in Egypt and Sudan, al mohaniya or al hannaya in the United Arab Emirates, and naggashat al henna in Yemen (and the rest of the submitting states). This category also includes musical troupes that are present during henna ceremonies on various social and religious occasions as well as traditional healers who utilize henna in the treatment of certain diseases.

Furthermore, artisans that use henna wood in making baskets (Egypt and Sudan) and henna leaves in dying wool are also considered concerned groups. [3]

The patterns on the skin went deeper than the surface: they blessed, retold stories kept in a collective memory, and connected generations, as did the colours and patterns in dress and jewellery along with the fragrances added to both. Together, they formed an aesthetic that extended far beyond pleasing the senses.

More about henna

The art of henna encompasses so many cultural and spiritual aspects! In the course on Scents of the Middle East, you’ll learn more about the uses of henna in relation to personal adornment.

Fatima Oulad Thami addresses henna in her research and on her website: have a look here to learn more!

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References for henna art as World Heritage

[1] See the UNESCO inscription here: https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/henna-rituals-aesthetic-and-social-practices-02116

[2] Stark, F. 1936. The Southern Gates of Arabia. A Journey in the Hadhramaut. John Murray, London (2003 edition), p. 42

[3] See the nomination file, accessible via the link with note 1.

Would you like to quote this article? Please do! Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meaning

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meaning

by | General jewellery topics

Jewellery conference

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meaning

Published on August 05, 2024

What do you do to celebrate your PhD? Throw a party of jewellery talks! I hosted the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings in June 2024, bringing together artists, historians, makers, archaeologists and wearers, to discuss personal adornment in the widest sense of the world and from multiple angles. The room in the National Museum of Antiquities was packed with a curious and engaged audience, and well, what can I say: this afternoon was some serious fun!

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings: the title

First, why this title? ‘Hidden Meanings’ does not refer to sensational secret codes (hope you were not expecting that), but to the many meanings a piece of jewellery can have. And those meanings are not always straightforward, especially when the observer is from another culture, or from another timeframe, or both.

Speaking for myself, my grandmother could read and explain details in the traditional jewellery of her region that I do not even spot unless they are pointed out to me. Same culture, but different timeframe.

Imagine doing that as an archaeologist, looking at jewellery of thousands of years ago: different culture, different timeframe – and no one to ask!

On top of that, our various disciplines and cultural backgrounds result in us looking at jewellery and adornment differently, too. A maker will spot technical details sooner, a wearer will see what does and does not work, a historian traces shapes and symbols to a wider context.

‘Meaning’ may simply be hidden to us, because we may see a lot of adornment, but we don’t know what to look for.

So, what I wanted to do on this afternoon, is bring together experts from a variety of fields to look at adornment together, share their way of seeing and engaging with adornment, and learn from each other’s viewpoints. A wonderful aspect in that respect was that none of us is only just one thing: you can be an archaeologist, a wearer, a maker and a practitioner all one, or a maker, wearer and researcher. Just like jewellery, people carry multiple perspectives, too, and that is what made this afternoon of cross-overs so inspiring.

Enthralled audience at the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings, organised by Sigrid van Roode
Fatima Oulad Thami answering questions from her enthousiastic audience at the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings, organised by Sigrid van Roode

Living Adornment

Salma Ahmad Caller opened the symposium with a thought-provoking talk on jewellery and our imagination. What does it mean to adorn oneself? Using adornment as classification tool for ‘Peoples & Types’ heavily relies on only sight as medium, practiced by external observers, and limiting our understanding – but adornment also has profound bodily aspects as well, known only to the wearer. Supported by Salma’s beautiful art works, this talk was a fantastic opening not just of the symposium, but of our minds.

Fatima Oulad Thami took us through Moroccan henna as living, changing heritage. She shared her own experiences as both a henna wearer and henna artist with us, as well as her journey into history and research of this art form. Fatima explained how henna as colorant is used not just for skin or hair, but also on fabrics, connecting the body to things through similar treatment. She also highlighted the bodily sensations of henna, such as its scent, and its capacity of cooling the skin, and its powerful presence in a number of social contexts such as weddings and festivities, and informal rituals.

Fatima explored henna as living heritage through changing patterns, changing modes of application, and a changing clientele. As henna traditions are mainly oral, and not written down in pattern books for example, there is much that may be lost in the near future, and I think we all felt the importance of Fatima’s work.

Wafa Ghnaim tuned in from New York to share her latest research into Palestinian dress, with a focus on headdresses. Wafa learned to embroider from her mother at a very young age, and has since combined her ancestral art with education, research and activism – if ever you’d need a clear example of the profound meaning traditional adornment has in today’s world, Palestinian tatreez is it.

Wafa showed us how adornment expresses identity on so many levels: of a people and culture as a whole, of a region in particular, and finally, the hardest level of identity to trace but the most powerful of them all, that of the person who made and wore an item of dress.

Adornment outside its living context

These first three talks set the scene for the length and width of jewellery and adornment as experienced by living cultures. For archaeologists and jewellery historians, this overview is a bit daunting, as we’re left with only the material remains of a society. We simply have no idea of any of the kind of traditions, customs, habits, and ‘ways of doing things’ a living culture has. But as the next three speakers showed, there is still a lot to be learned.

Karsten Wentink took us back to prehistory with his research into the earliest gold ornaments from The Netherlands. These are mysterious things: beautiful, but we have absolutely no idea how they were worn. By comparing similar items from other parts of Europe, and asking a skilled goldsmith to study the technical details, we may get an idea of how these things were handled in the past. And what is more, these objects were decorated, which led to a lively exchange of thoughts with Fatima on the importance and meaning of patterns on both skin and things.

Yvonne Lammers addressed one of the most difficult aspects of the past to grasp: spirituality and ritual. She drew fascinating parallels between the grave of a richly adorned woman from medieval Fyrkat, Sweden, and wicca practices of her own experience. She based her argument on analysis of the items found with the woman, including hallucinatory aspects of organic materials, contemporary tales of magic and witchcraft, and sensory elements. Here, we looked back at Salma’s talk again: dare we use our imagination and acknowledge this woman as a seeress?

Kim van Zweeden then showed us sentimental and mourning jewellery from the relatively recent past, the 19th and 19th centuries. Here as well, we need to understand the cultural context to get an idea of what all these skulls and fascination with death actually meant. Adornment can be a powerful way to connect with loved ones, either living or dead, and we lingered a while on the intimacy of using another person’s hair in ornaments worn on the body, a topic Jolanda reflected on with her research in dressing the hair of the dead in ancient Egypt.

The audience of the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings engaging with books and objects.
Sigrid van Roode trying out replica prehistoric ornaments of Karsten Wentink's research project.
Jolanda Bos sharing her research into the sensory aspects of face veils at the symposium Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings, organised by Sigrid van Roode

A caleidoscope of adornment studies

Jolanda Bos wrapped all previous topics up in her talk on the sensory aspects of personal adornment. She whisked us through time, from the ancient world to contemporary practices, and showed us how hairstyle, dress and jewellery all work together. For this, she shared many examples from her research on kohl containers from both ancient Egypt and the modern world, face veils, and hairstyles from Amarna.

Here, we touched on perceptions as well as sensations. Perceptions, as Western Egyptologists have long struggled with the concept of greasing one’s hair (even with delightfully perfumed wax), while this makes total sense to people used to caring for African hair. And sensations, in the smell, weight and sounds of face veils, which Jolanda is also working on. A beautiful final talk to conclude an afternoon of adornment studies!

To support the talks, each speaker also brought objects from their own research for the audience to see, touch, smell, and ask about. Jolanda, for example, brought kohl containers and face veils, of which one still retained some of its smell. A fascinating sensation to breathe in the same fragrance as the wearer once did! Fatima recreated a wedding henna set-up with a sugar cone, henna leaves and a bracelet placed atop the cone, Karsten had recreated some of the prehistoric ornaments for us to try, and Yvonne brought replicas of the Fyrkat seeress’ outfit.

This ‘table of things’ formed a perfect medium for our audience to share their thoughts, ask questions and follow up with the speakers during the break and after the last talk.

Visible Beauty, Hidden Meanings: new beginnings

What happens when a henna artist, an archaeologist and a witch walk into a bar…? That is what we did afterwards: get a drink and a bite to eat, and reflect on the afternoon. Turns out, we all loved to hear other perspectives, but also to recognize elements of our own field of study in that of someone else.

For me personally, that flow of recognition was the best part of the entire afternoon: we may all be working with totally different objects in completely different contexts, but by using our collective imagination and inspired by the results and viewpoints of others, new things emerge. This symposium was just too good to leave it at a one-time event: I’ll be definitely organizing more of these in future, so stay tuned and watch this space!

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on the jewellery of the Egyptian zar-ritual. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Glanz und Geheimnis

Glanz und Geheimnis

by | Museums & Exhibitions

a stunning private collection

Glanz und Geheimnis

A hidden gem: the exhibition of traditional silver jewellery and dress from the wonderful collection of Swiss collector Peter Hösli is on show in the Knauf Museum, Iphofen, until November 2023. I had the opportunity to visit this beautiful exhibition – so many rare pieces that I had to return for a second visit!

A stunning treasure of silver and beaded jewellery from North Africa and the Middle East.

Bedouin Silver | Glanz und Geheimnis

Omani necklace from the collection of Peter Hoesli

Glanz und Geheimnis | Oman

Yemeni necklace from the collection of Peter Hoesli

Glanz und Geheimnis | Yemen

Palestinian chin-chain from the collection of Peter Hoesli

Glanz und Geheimnis | Palestine

Bedouin dresses in the exhibition Glanz und Geheimnis

Glanz und Geheimnis | Bedouin dresses

First, what is the Knauf Museum? This is the museum that the Knauf family (if you have ever done home renovation, you have used their products) has founded in their hometown of Iphofen in Germany. Its permanent exhibition shows plaster casts of many famous archaeological sites and artworks from the Classical world, South America, Asia, and ancient Egypt. And in the newly added wing, the museum hosts a variety of temporary exhibitions on a wide range of cultural topics. This year, that topic is silver jewellery from the Arab Peninsula and the Levant, so I had to see this: lots of Bedouin jewellery, and much more!

The accompanying book was already a delight (see more about that here), but seeing these pieces in person and being able to observe every detail was, of course, even better. The exhibition is spread over two floors, and I loved the sight of a magnificent dress of as-Salt, Jordan, greeting me in the bright and airy conservatory between the new and the old wing. It circled gently, allowing visitors to admire its detail on every floor, and I personally thought this one of the best ways I have ever seen such a dress displayed. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about: these dresses are huge!

The jewellery pieces themselves were even more beautiful in real life. Polished to a shine, they were placed either lying down or mounted on mannequin heads. The showcases were spacious and accommodated the jewellery well, with each piece allocated enough ‘breathing space’ to be admired without being spread too thin. The only truly incomprehensible thing about the exhibition is the designers’ choice of background colour for the jewellery: detailed and delicate silver pieces become near invisible against the variegated grey background they were placed on. Instead of an even, contrasting colour, this melée of grey made dainty filigree and granulation very hard to see. A background colour for silver does not even have to be black…but I implore anyone thinking about a jewellery exhibition to just not use variegated grey. The jewellery deserves better.

And especially this jewellery, because like I wrote in the book review, you are in for a treat if you have a chance to see this exhibition. It shows many rare pieces that are impossible to find, such as Najd hair ornaments strung on a strip of cotton, superb filigree work from Yemen, and Palestinian ‘iznaq chin chains that made me gasp. The addition of dresses adds colour and life to the showrooms: several beautifully embroidered Bedouin gowns from Tiraz collection and a number of dresses from Peter’s own collection illustrated how adornment goes beyond just jewellery. And I really enjoyed seeing the small cotton pouches attached to Saudi women’s dresses, that once were filled with aromatics such as oudh…such a wonderful way of perfuming oneself.

In addition to the jewellery itself, a short film explained the various techniques of silversmithing in the Levant. This was curated by Salua Qidan of both Tiraz centre and Folkglory Designs. Seeing the jewellery made lifted something of the inevitable static nature of any exhibition, and I found this to be a very valuable addition to the exhibition itself. In the same room where the film could be watched, several fully dressed and adorned mannequins brought jewellery and dress together, and I loved seeing how the two interact.

If you are in the area, or have a possibility of traveling there, you should absolutely go see this exhibition!

Glanz und Geheimnis/Shine and Mystery

Knauf Museum, Iphofen, Germany

March 26 – November 5, 2023

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Shine & Mystery

Shine & Mystery

by | Reviews

a stunning private collection

Shine & Mystery

A long-awaited book: the personal collection of Swiss collector and traveler Peter Hösli features in the exhibition Shine & Mystery in the Knauf Museum in Iphofen, Germany, and with the exhibition comes a wonderful catalogue on jewellery from Southwest Asia. And you’re in for a treat!

Cover of the book Shine & Mystery. Splendour and power of Oriental jewellery.

Bedouin Silver | Shine and Mystery

Page from the book Shine & Mystery, showing jewellery from the Levant

Shine & Mystery | Levant

Page from the book Shine & Mystery, showing jewellery from Saudi Arabia

Shine & Mystery | Saudi Arabia

Page from the book Shine & Mystery, showing silver and gold jewellery from Oman

Shine & Mystery | Oman

Page from the book Shine & Mystery, showing jewellery from Yemen

Shine & Mystery | Yemen

First, about the title. I usually don’t care much for exoticizing words such as ‘mystery’ in the context of jewellery from Southwest Asia, but there might be a very good reason in this case. After all, the original title of both exhibition and book are in German: Glanz und Geheimnis. Although the title is not explained, I immediately associated it with a previous exhibition, in Cologne, called Pracht und Geheimnis. This has been one of the most influential exhibitions and its accompanying publication is still one of the main reference books for dress and adornment from Palestine and Jordan. It presented the collection of dress and jewellery of Widad Kawar of Tiraz Centre. Tiraz has generously lent costume and dress to this exhibition, too, and so in my mind the dots were easily connected. [1]

Shine & Mystery starts out with a portrait of the collector, Peter Hösli. This is incredibly important: to get the know the person behind a collection. In the short biography we learn how his focus as a collector is on unusual, upper class pieces, more modest middle class pieces as well as on repaired pieces. That last aspect is often overlooked, but it is here we learn of woman’s preferences and choices over the course of her life. And that is indeed what the focal points of the collection should be, according to Peter: they should be a testament to arts and culture, provide an insight in the history of a region or country, and share not only the skill of the silversmith but also the personal stories of the people that wore these items. With these parameters, this stunning collection has been carefully built over the years.

But: those histories and personal stories is not what this book focuses on. Instead, it presents a unique and important angle that I feel should be brought to the forefront more often, and that is the history of collecting itself. In each chapter, Peter shares his own experiences buying jewellery, as well as stories and snapshots of his life traveling and living in the region. I absolutely loved this personal approach, as the aims and goals of the collector and the circumstances of collecting have a profound effect on the collection itself: what is included, what is excluded, and why? An example is the memory of an Omani headdress, which turned out to be way too expensive to purchase at that time (p. 100-101): by including his tales about ‘the ones that got away’, the author shows us how collecting is a constant process of not only selecting and choosing, offer and demand, but also other factors. That places the pieces in this catalogue in a context that is rarely seen, and to me absolutely enhances the value of this book even more. It is like traveling together and looking over the shoulder of the collector.

So what do we see, when we look over the shoulder of the collector? Shine & Mystery presents four chapters, each devoted to a region or country. These are Saudi Arabia, the Levant, Oman and Yemen, each preceded by a personal introduction. And in these chapters, the most wonderful jewellery items are presented in bright, crisp photographs. For each item, a small fact-sheet is included with its name (and where possible its vernacular name), its origin, weight and dimensions, its age and a short description. In these descriptions is a wealth of information about the jewellery pieces and their use: we learn of Najd-headdresses featuring in poems, an inscription against the evil eye, but also highly relevant historic facts such as changing borders. We are accustomed to borders as they are today, and only too often do inhabitants of either side of a border claim a certain jewellery style as their own: a bare fact like a border changing in 1926 (p. 21) forces us to see jewellery on a long term-scale. It’s details like these that are so often left out, and I’m very happy to see them included here.

The jewellery items themselves are just breathtaking, and a testimony to the eye of the collector. I loved the coloured glass and plastic beads on a silver Omani necklace (p. 119), the fragment of a choker necklace repurposed on a headband from Jordan (p. 62), the breathtaking skills of the silversmiths creating these jewels and so much more. The clear, bright photographs really do these pieces justice and the atmospheric close-ups of details bring them to life: I could gaze over the images in this book for hours! There are a few instances where only a detail of a jewel is photographed, not the complete piece, so you need to know what you’re looking at. [2]

The design of the book is carried out with great care and attention to detail. Each section is colour-coded with the colours running off the page, so you see neat blocks of colour on the lower side of the book as well. At the end of the catalogue you’ll find a useful glossary of terms and a bibliography. As this is not so much a book about jewellery history, but a personal catalogue, the bibliography is very brief: there are no references throughout the volume. The only drawback is that it contains Wikipedia-references on topics on which actual literature is abundantly available, including online sources – I must admit this choice surprised me, given the absolute quality of the collection presented.

My advice to you would be straightforward: do not hesitate and buy this book before it is out of print. This catalogue is a very relevant addition to any collector’s or curator’s bookshelf. It contains many rare and outstanding pieces of jewellery that you will not see elsewhere, and the personal experiences with collecting jewellery in the countries of origin themselves are incredibly important to increase our understanding of how these objects are valued and handled. A must-have publication of an incredible collection!

Shine & Mystery. The splendour and power of oriental jewellery. Edited by Markus Mergenthaler, 2023

Full colour, hardback, 191 pages, available in German and in English. Published by Nunnerich-Asmus Verlag and Knauf Museum, Iphofen.

Available with the publisher: click here for the English edition and click here for the German edition.

For orders outside of Europe: you can write to the publisher for a quotation of shipping costs, or alternatively order on Amazon.

Follow Peter Hösli’s amazing Instagram-account here for more jewellery beauty!

The book was received as review copy from the publisher.

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More book recommendations on personal adornment from North Africa & Southwest Asia? Browse them all here!

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References

[1] Volger, G. (red) 1987. Pracht und Geheimnis. Kleidung und Schmuck aus Palastina und Jordanien, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Koln. The catalogue Shine & Mystery of this review does not include the dresses of Tiraz, they feature in the exhibition only. The fact that the exhibition is in German shimmers through in the book on occasion: the chapters Saudi-Arabia and Levant have both German and English titles, and the front cover and title pages have a spelling error in the title ‘mystery’. None of this diminishes this book in any way.

[2] Such as on page 23, 25, 66, 82

The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].

The Bedouin Silver Jewellery Blog: Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery, and obtained her PhD at Leiden University on jewellery, informal ritual and collections. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only. Sigrid strongly believes in accessibility of knowledge, and aims to provide reliable and trustworthy content: that’s why the Bedouin Silver blog provides references and citations.

This blog is free: if you’d like to support independent research, please consider enrolling in a course or a jewellery talk. The proceeds directly fund my research work: thank you so much for your support!

Emirati Adornment

Emirati Adornment

by | Reviews

lest we forget

Emirati Adornment: Tangible & Intangible

What happens when material culture, documenting and archiving meets art, storytelling and design? A wonderful project that showcases personal adornment from all angles, through exhibitions, short films, and a book: Emirati Adornment – Tangible & Intangible.

The Lest We Forget-project is an initiative of the Sheikha Salama Foundation in Abu Dhabi. The aim of the project in the widest sense is to document Emirati history and identity through objects, but even more so through the stories and memories attached to these. The exhibition curated in 2016 featured personal adornment as its central element, and the book Emirati Adornment – Tangible & Intangible shows how personal adornment is closely interwoven with memory, feelings and personal histories.

The book is divided into two sections: tangible and intangible adornment. Both sections revolve around personal memories, collected through many interviews. That is also how the selection of objects in this book came to be: it is a cross-section through objects of everyday use that the community itself put forward. The interviews reflect the values attached to these objects, and as such the book presents a bottom-up curated selection of living heritage.

First, the section on tangible adornment shows 34 individual objects with their stories. Here, we find items of jewellery and dress, but also a pair of tailoring scissors wielded by a grandfather who created a garment for Sheikh Zayed, or popsicle sticks that remind the interviewee of how her grandmother used to reinforce her burqa with these. The second section zooms in on 26 objects and artworks associated with intangible adornment. Here, we find topics such as henna, perfumes and incense, but also strength and grace, a tree, or the swaying movement of hair in a dance. Throughout the book, all of these objects and memories are presented based on personal histories, showing how much personal adornment is part of everyday life.

This approach to personal adornment, through collective memory and storytelling, results in a different selection of objects than a narrower focus on only objects of adornment would. Through the many personal anecdotes and memories shared, the world of adornment expands into that of sewing machines and popsicles, of pearl powder and wedding gun shots, of tooth polish and perfume. These objects are shown in this beautifully designed volume as photos, but also as artworks, collages, and drawings. Each object is presented with not just an image and its accompanying text, but features an opaque sheet in between the two with an additional layer: a drawing, a quote… Together, they show how images and memories overlap. Where the photographs of objects are by their nature static, the drawings on the overlays often show movement: a hand holding a kohl stick, a branch swaying in the wind, a dancer moving on an invisible rhythm. The insertion of the overlay also steers how we experience the story: first, we read the memories and personal history of the interviewee, then we see the drawing on the overlay, and only after turning that page do we see the object. As such, the design of the book makes the personal experience the central element, instead of reducing it to a mere explanation that goes with an object. A great example of how design actively influences our looking at things.

I absolutely loved this approach to personal adornment as part of everyday life and of the collective memory. The short stories introduce the reader into the intimacy of the family circle: we learn of grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers, fathers and siblings through their preferences for this or that use of personal adornment. The stories in this book present a wealth of information on not only objects, but their place in society and the values that that society attaches to them.

The volume is an artwork in itself by its wonderful design, and a treasure for anyone wanting to learn more about Emirati life and the power of adornment. If you want to understand how objects, people and memories interact, this is an important book that will have you dwell in its pages for hours!

Emirati Adornment. Tangible/Intangible, edited by Dr. Michele Bambling, 2017.

281 pp, full-colour, in Arabic and English. Available with Dukkan421

The book was a much-loved gift by Marie-Claire Bakker, who contributed to the volume

Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. She considers jewellery heritage and a historic source. She has authored several books on jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, and on archaeological jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the Society of Jewellery Historians, the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden and the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, among many others. She curates exhibitions and teaches online courses on jewellery from North Africa & Southwest Asia.