In Good Hands: Craft, Cooking and Care in Somalia

In her work The colour of  Henna, Fozia collaborated with Fardosa Hussein, a documentary photographer and videographer based in Somalia who photographed a henna ceremony. She provided an atmospheric series of photos of two young women doing henna. The photos speak to Somali women’s hands and craft, cooking and care. 

 Henna is usually applied before a celebratory event and Fozia  associates it ''with fun-filled, chatty rooms that are buzzing away with an energy of anticipation but also the application process of henna forces a sort of pauseand stillnes upon the hands it's being applied to.'' 

For Fozia the color she associates with Somalia is is henna, which, as she states,  ''varies from light orange to deep brown. It also has a particularly earthy smell that is deeply centring and uplifting. I remember that smell.''

Fozia was inspired to create an image of henna being applied by the cover of Hawa Hassan's book on henna. 

Speaking further about henna appilcation, Fozia concludes ''There is something so familiar about care that is taken to colour and pattern the hands, whether it’s just a simple tip of fingers or or more intricate designs for celebrations. When I see this, it reminds me of the comfort and care that our mothers, aunties and grandmothers take with cooking, crafting and praying. This picture by Fardosa beautifully represents Somalia.