Performers not leaving the mall quietly
It’s been a week since Henna artists have officially been forbidden in Santa Monica, yet they continue to perform.
And now they are calling for the city to lift its ban.
The Santa Monica City Council voted 4- 3 in October to ban Henna artists from the Third Street Promenade and the pier. Council members felt some of the artists are posing a public safety risk. The ban took effect Jan. 1.
Several council members think tattooing is not a performance or an art. Instead, they contend, it is merely a form of cosmetology. If Henna is on the mall, this line of reasoning goes, then hair braiding may be next.
Henna is a non-permanent dye used in tattooing. However, a small minority of artists use toxic chemicals that can result in skin rashes and other difficulties. This usage has given the 5,000-year-old art form a black eye in Santa Monica.
Skin rashes and other complications can be caused by “black Henna” or phenylenediamine, a hair dye. The black Henna is cheaper than traditional Henna dye, which is red and has been used for skin decorations and body art for thousands of years.
The city was sued recently by someone who received a Henna tattoo after being told that it was temporary but it turned out to permanent. As a result, the city staff advised the council to reconsider whether it wanted to permit these activities as a performance, which opens up the city to liability.
Proponents of Henna argue that public safety is just an excuse to ban artists. They say the artists are just another casualty in a war between community leaders who have intensely different visions of the city’s commercial core.
The three council members that voted to keep Henna in the city agree that it’s an art form and should be included under the city’s street performer ordinance — much like a clown who does face painting. But the three, Kevin McKeown, Richard Bloom and Mayor Mike Feinstein, lost to a majority of four. Feinstein vowed to bring back the issue when a new council is elected this fall.
But Henna artists are pressing the issue for him. They have formed “Supporters of Henna Artists’ Right to Express” which is actively lobbying the city to lift the ban immediately. They are gathering signatures to petition the council to reinstate the art form.
The artists say the city has inaccurately stated the ancient Mehndi art form is a tattoo. They argue it’s a safe art form and is not a cosmetology service. They have just as much right to perform on the mall as do the creative portrait artists, balloon clowns and artistic flower makers, they argue.
Henna performer Roy Mayhew acknowledges that there are some artists who use potentially dangerous, toxic chemicals like brown hair dye that make the tattooing unsafe. But he thinks if the city will work with him and other responsible artists in regulating the art form, it’s possible for Henna to remain a vital part of the mall’s funky character while at the same time allowing him his freedom of expression. Mayhew wants the city to be more open to finding alternatives instead of simply taking the easy way out and banning it.
“What’s the best way to protect the public and their right to safety and our right to express?” he asked. “I don’t have the answer to that. I just hope they sit down and discuss it.”
“What’s the best way to protect the public and their right to safety and our right to express? I don’t have the answer to that. I just hope they sit down and discuss it.” — — ROY MAYHEW Henna artist
Mayhew said he is working with Steele Smith, the city’s street performer liaison, to come up with a solution. One idea envisions having all artists sign a contract binding them to use safe Henna and then issuing them a permit. Anyone that breaks the contract by using toxic chemicals should be arrested, Mayhew suggested, adding it should be treated as a terrorist act.
Mayhew was giving Henna tattoos to people along the Promenade on Sunday — even though he is banned from doing so. He said his performances were strictly for “demonstration.” One tattoo artist continued to perform his art and was issued a police citation Saturday.
“I shouldn’t do it,” Mayhew said. “I’m not gonna do it.”
Mayhew said he has gathered about 100 signatures and expects to have many more by next weekend. The banned Henna artists will be joined by supporters on Thursday at noon for a press conference and art demonstration on the mall between Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway.
“My position on this is that this is my right to express myself but it’s a fine line between public safety,” Mayhew said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 7, 2002. Read the original PDF.