Fawzia Zamani
My name is Fawzia, but everyone calls me Foz. I was born in Afghanistan, a country where there was constant war and women did not have freedom in their lives. I had dreams and ambitions that one day I will become a top artist and educated person, but it was not possible in my homeland. Fortunately, my family moved to Pakistan and I started my education and began exploring henna art.
I love to travel all over the world and learn about other cultures and their art. At this point in my life I am happy to say that I have been to many countries and experienced many different cultures. I have fulfilled most of my dreams as I have finished my education, now have a 10 year old daughter, and am a successful henna artist.
When I was 10 years old I discovered my passion for henna art. First I started drawing the patterns on white paper — every day I traced more than 10 hands with patterns. After I became comfortable with the designs on paper, I started working with a henna cone. I have so many memories of henna because when my papers were full, I started to draw on walls — even on my mother's hand while she was sleeping.
In our Afghani culture, we have lots of arts and crafts such as knitting carpet, jackets, dresses or making pots, flowers and much more. When I was small my mom would always knit a jacket, socks, and gloves for me. She taught me the basics of knitting as well. Most of our people love henna and they use henna as part of our festival celebrations. There is an entire ceremony dedicated to henna the night before a wedding where we draw patterns for both the bride and groom, as well as the wedding guests. We do henna arts on Eids, New Year's, engagement parties, weddings, etc.
Nowadays, everyone loves to learn how to draw henna, as they can use it instead of a tattoo, as it has no side effects and, while it is long lasting, it is temporary. That is the reason I want to teach this art to everyone so they can enjoy it and they can use it at every festival.
Currently, I am living in the Dominican Republic. I love everything here especially the sea view and it has lots of beaches with fresh fish. Dominicans are so friendly and helpful. It has pure nature and quiet places where you can feel very relaxed.