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Tinga Tinga Today: Tanzanian Popular Art in Transition

April 9, 2015 to September 30, 2015

In Tinga Tinga Today, Indigo Arts considers the unique genre of popular painting that has flourished in Tanzania since the late 1960's. With the passing of Omary Amonde, the last of the "first generation" Tinga Tinga artists, we look at the legacy of founder Edward Saidi Tingatinga, and the directions taken by the artists today. Tinga Tinga painting takes its name and its inspiration from Edward Saidi Tingatinga (1932 – 1972). Born in a village in the far south of the colony then known as Tanganyika, he migrated north to the capital of Dar es Salaam in search of work in 1957. He worked as a gardener for expatriates before finding a better job as ward attendant at Muhimbili National Hospital. A resourceful man, Tingatinga was ever trying other ways to support his family. Admiring the apparent ease with which itinerant artists from the Congo sold their “jungle” paintings to European tourists, he determined to try his own hand at painting. He used readily available materials – high-gloss bicycle enamel on square hardboard ceiling tiles. His elegantly simple paintings of wild animals, birds and village scenes were naïve, charming and sold quickly. Others were inspired by his success, and he agreed to take on six apprentices, mostly members of his family or his mother’s Makua tribe. But Tingatinga did not enjoy his success for long. One night in May 1972 he was shot dead by the Dar es Salaam police in what is generally described as a “case of mistaken identity”. Though his painting career spanned only four years, Edward Saidi Tingatinga launched a painting industry in Tanzania. After his death his original six students organized themselves in a group that came to bear his name. The artists worked in a “naïve” style inspired by their teacher – some quite literally, and others expanding into new subjects and more elaborate, even baroque, styles. In the ensuing forty years Tingatinga painting has become the ubiquitous national art of Tanzania, in quality that ranges from very original naïve art to decorative but derivative work that is often dismissed as “airport” art. The work shown here is nearly all by members of the Tinga Tinga Cooperative, but it represents the several distinct directions in which the style has evolved.

Black Horse
SKU: SLM-2001

Tanzania, c.1980s.
Oil enamel on board (12" h. x 12" w.).

$250

Harvesting Honey from a Tree
SKU: PTR-2001

Tanzania, c.1980.
Oil enamel on masonite board (12" h. x 12" w.).

$250

Ceremony
SKU: PTR-2002

Tanzania, c.1980.
Oil enamel on masonite board (12" h. x 12" w.).

$250

Four Hornbills in a Tree
SKU: DMSG-2005

Tanzania, c.1980.
Oil enamel on masonite board (12" h. x 12" w.).

$250

Zebras and Hornbills
SKU: TT-1130

Szyd - Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (member of Tinga Tinga Arts Cooperative Society).
c.2010
Oil enamel on canvas (18" x 18") (45cm x 45cm).

10% off

$195 $175.50

Dancing
SKU: TT1414

March, 2014
Oil enamel on canvas (8" x 8") (20cm x 20cm).

$68

Cape Buffalo and Bird
SKU: TT1319

2013
Oil enamel on canvas (22" x 30") (56cm x 76cm).

SOLD

Product Status: 
Sold
Leopards and Birds
SKU: TT-1109

Rashidi Rubuni (b. 1969, Livangula, Tanzania) - Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (member of Tinga Tinga Arts Cooperative Society)
c. 2010
Oil enamel on canvas (35 1/4" h x 25 1/2"w).

$525

Product Status: 
Sold
Muhimbili National Hospital
SKU: Tinga24

c.2010
Oil enamel on canvas (39 1/4" h x 29 1/2"w)

$525

Product Status: 
Sold
Hornbills in a Tree
SKU: TT-2001

Tanzania, 1980.
Oil enamel on masonite board w/ painted wood frame (24" h. x 24" w.).

$500

Product Status: 
Sold
Zebra
SKU: TT-1402

August., 2013
Oil enamel on canvas (18" h x 18"w) (45 x 45cm).

$450

Product Status: 
Sold
Snake amid the Guinea Fowl
SKU: TT1403

August, 2013
Oil enamel on canvas (18" h x 18"w) (45 x 45cm).

$450

Product Status: 
Sold
Bush Hospital
SKU: TT-1306

2013
Oil enamel on canvas (23" h x 31"w, 60cm x 80cm).

$450

Product Status: 
Sold
Lion
SKU: TT-1423

March, 2014
Oil enamel on canvas (18" h x 18"w) (45 x 45cm).

$195

Product Status: 
Sold
Black Antelope
SKU: TT1310

Jan., 2013
Oil enamel on canvas (12" h x 13 3/4"w) (30 x 35cm).

$150

Product Status: 
Sold
Animals Before Kilimanjaro
SKU: Tinga30

Sefu - Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (member of Tinga Tinga Arts Cooperative Society).
c.2010
Oil enamel on canvas (11" x 13 1/2") (28cm x 34cm).

$95

Product Status: 
Sold
Lion
SKU: TT1425

Mbuka - Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (member of Tinga Tinga Arts Cooperative Society).
March, 2014
Oil enamel on canvas (12" h x 14"w) (30 x 35cm)

$95

Product Status: 
Sold
Long-Tailed Birds
SKU: TT1505

March, 2014
Oil enamel on canvas (14" h x 12"w) (35 x 30cm).

$78

Product Status: 
Sold
Birds in the Bush
SKU: TT1506

March, 2014
Oil enamel on canvas (14" h x 12"w) (35 x 30cm).

$78

Product Status: 
Sold
Hippos
SKU: TT1422

Mwamedi Chiwaya (b. 1970, Dar es Salaam) - Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (member of Tinga Tinga Arts Cooperative Society).
October, 2013
Oil enamel on canvas (12" x 12") (30cm x 30cm).

$68

Product Status: 
Sold
Two Men with a Gourd
SKU: TT1413

March, 2014
Oil enamel on canvas (8" x 8") (20cm x 20cm).

10% off

$68 $61.20

Product Status: 
Sold
Buffaloes and Zebras
SKU: TT-1120

Ngambe - Tanzania
c. 2010
Oil enamel on canvas (14" h x 11"w)

$58

Product Status: 
Sold
Birds and Mosquitoes
SKU: TT1501

c.1980
Oil enamel on board (24" h x 24"w) (61 x 61cm), framed.

Price on request

Product Status: 
Sold