Henna, cultuur en een plek op de Unesco-lijst
A2 Dutch listening practice · Dutch · Curated for beginners
What is “henna” in Dutch Moroccan and Hindu culture?
Henna is a plant-based skin dye that, when applied as a paste, leaves intricate temporary patterns on hands and feet. In the Netherlands, henna is most central to the country’s Moroccan-Dutch and Surinamese-Hindu communities, who use it for weddings, Eid, Diwali, and big family celebrations. UNESCO inscribed the broader practice on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2017, recognizing the mehendi/henna tradition across the SWANA region and South Asian diaspora. Dutch henna salons run in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and Den Haag, especially around Halal Village Festival and Diwali-week pop-ups. The patterns last 1-3 weeks before fading.
In this clip, NOS Jeugdjournaal visits “het Halal Village Festival in Utrecht”: “Ik vind het gewoon heel mooi en het hoort bij mijn cultuur.”
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General Dutch frequency
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Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s A2 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-NL 2014 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Dutch coverage of Moroccan-Dutch cultural events (Halal Village Festival, Trouw, De Volkskrant)
- ▸In Dutch Surinamese-Hindu community writing (Hindu Council Nederland, De Volkskrant, NRC)
- ▸In UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage coverage (UNESCO, Tropenmuseum, Meertens Instituut)
- ▸In Dutch primary-school multiculturalism content (Het Klokhuis, Schooltv, NPO Zapp)