Yemeni women’s folk costumes disappearing

Wearing mashaqir is one of Yemen’s disappearing folkoric traditions.

Each country has its own culture and traditions, and clothes are one of them. Yemen, like any other country, has its own style of clothes   for men and women. In order to make themselves more beautiful, Yemeni women have their unique style of wearing jewellery. The use of Mashaqir -flower leaves with an amazing smell and color- is one of the ways in which Yemeni women show their beauty.

Nevertheless, many are trying to get rid of these customs. Now, we seldom see a woman wearing a mashaqir because it is no longer considered a way of being elegant. Those who are working and caring about tradition and culture interpret the disappearance of mashaqir as a way of being violent against women, taking away their rights. That is why the Folklore House (FH), headed by Arwa Abdu Othman, is trying to do something to promote mashaqir as way to keep it in people’s minds and enable others who do not know about it to learn about this tradition. 

Last week, FH held a small celebration under the slogan “Violated femininity in folklore.” The aim of this ceremony was to promote mashaqir and to give others, who do not know about it, the chance to see it. Not allowing women to use this piece of floral jewelry that they once used, is a way of being violent against them, claimed FH. 

“Talking and paying attention to mashaqir was a dream I strived to realize for a decade, even before the HF was established. Caring about such thing first started when I started using my small camera to take pictures for different faces of both, cities and countryside,” said Arwa Abdu Othman the director of HF. 

Taking pictures of mashaqir makes you feel both, happiness and fear at the same time, she expresses. “When I was taking pictures of faces with mashaqir it tickled my feelings, and fear was one of these feelings. I saw mashaqir in one of Taiz’s souqs, but now I have not seen mashaqir in this place; it has become extinct,” said Abdu Othman.

Where did those women who used to use mashaqir go? Why they do not make us still happy with the smell and the beauty of mashaqir? These questions have been asked for some time by the HF and others who are interested in such things.  “I started taking pictures of the few faces with mashaqir with the fear that I might not see these faces tomorrow,” Abdu Othman added. “By being violent against mashaqir and ignoring all the tradition behind it, violence is exerted against women,” she said. 

Today, mashaqir has been understood as if it were something forbidden about which people should not talk or even wear.  

“The existence of mashaqir represents the privacy that Yemeni civilization has, which is not replicable in other civilizations. Describing women by mashaqir, which is a symbol of beauty, shows real respect and appreciation towards women,” said Abul-Aziz al-Mahqaleh, the cultural counselor of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.  

He emphasized the importance of mashaqir, which represents a part of a big historical encyclopedia about the importance of Yemeni women, whether in the past, present or future.  

The necessity of establishing a dialogue based on diversity and multiplicity, which will help to develop the culture of debate, comes as a result of the increasing hatred against local culture, which is also a result from the ‘one-way thinking’ principle. For this reason, among many others, the FH was founded,” explained Abdu Othman. 

FH, which was founded on April 10, 2004, is a cultural non-profit NGO that conducts research and studies, collects and documents Yemen’s spiritual heritage and makes analyses according to methodological and scientific standards. 

An exhibition consisting of around 200 pictures, which were taken by Abdu Othman, was held in the festival. These pictures promote the Yemeni environment and show the relationship between women and nature. It also shows how Yemeni women wear mashaqir. The exhibition aims at implanting the beauty of mashaqir in people’s minds and showing how it is an important part of Yemeni culture. The exhibition will last until July 29, at the Folklore House.  

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