On the other hand.......

In my previous post I highlighted some African traditions that I hoped would never become trends!

Since life is about balance, I figured this time round I should talk about  some African traditions and or concepts that I think have already made it into mainstream society.

Siyala

As I understand it, Siyala originated in Northern Africa. It was basically body paint used to ward off evil spirits and illness. It was made up of dots, lines and other patterns that were typically painted on parts of the body that were not normally covered by clothes, so the hands and feet were favourite areas for painting.

Look familiar?

That’s mainly because the mehndi patterns painted in Henna on Indian women’s hands and feet look just like it. 

So there you go, contribution number one!

Body painting

This was a temporary decoration that only lasted a few days and was used to signify a person’s social standing and religious views. 

The body paints were made from clay and natural vegetable pigments. In some societies, specific colours could only be worn by specific people. 

For instance, in parts of Sudan, boys aged less than eight were not allowed to wear yellow. (It’s been really bugging me why yellow in particular. If you know, please put me out of my misery!)

Take a look at any modern day football match and you’ll see at least one painted face in the crowd! Also, body painting is often used now to create somewhat of a sensation as the picture below clearly shows. There’s even an annual world body painting festival! (It’s being held in Austria from 27^th June to 3^rd July 2011 if you’re wondering!)

 

Masks- I already did a whole post dedicated to them so I won’t go into too much detail but suffice it to say that many masks in South American countries were informed by their African ancestry. Take a look at the carnival in Brazil and the costumes and masks are strangely reminiscent of traditional African spirit ceremonies using similar costumes and masks.

There you have it. A small contribution from the beautiful continent to the rest of the world.

See you soon!