Tingatinga

When you walk by an African Tingatinga painting I am confident that the colourful images will capture you.  These remarkable depictions of African wildlife, lifestyle and culture are an art form unique to Eastern Africa and each one is born from the palette of the painter’s soul.

Tingatinga is named after its founder, the late Edward Said Tingatinga.  This self-taught artist was born in the settlement of Mindu, Tanzania were he attended Primary School, from Standard 1 to 4, before leaving his family behind in search of a better future.  In 1960, after several odd jobs, Tingatinga found himself in Dar-es-Salaam living with his cousin.  He started working in Dar as a gardener, before he was able to land a coveted government position.  However, even with a secure job, it didn’t take Tingatinga long before his passion for the arts drew him in another direction altogether.

In 1968 Tingatinga followed his heart, walked into a hardware store bought a stack of ceiling tiles and an assortment of bicycle paints and let his imagination go.  Although he was also known as a talented musician and Makonde dancer, this was to be his first experience as a painter.  His paintings were painted at home and then carried to a nearby shopping area each day for sale.  Each day the paintings had to be carried to the stores and then back again at night.  As the paintings gained popularity Tingatinga began to employ a number of his family members to help him prepare and carry the paintings for sale at the market each day.

In 1970 Tingatinga started to give instruction to his younger brother in the art of Tingatinga painting.  He wasn’t a conventional teacher though, allowing his students to watch and learn rather than giving actual instruction.  At this time he also invited some of his other relatives to join in the business, but largely he kept the painting group closed to outside members.  The original 3 students were very close to Tingatinga and actually came from the same tribe, the Makua and from the same clan within that tribe.  However, by marriage Tingatinga had other family from the Makonde community and two more painters were added from his connections there.  These 5 students of Tingatinga himself are known today as the first generation of Tingatinga painters.

Then in 1971, with his already successful business, Tingatinga was approached by Mr. Berger to join the National Development Corporation (NDC) and the National Art of Tanzania (NAT).  Tingatinga signed on and agreed to supply the NDC and NAT with new paintings every Friday at an agreed upon price – one that was much higher than what he was receiving on the street.  At the same time Tingatinga decided to leave his government day job and commit full-time to his painting.

Tingatinga’s paintings were very simplistic in style.  The animals were often seen singled out and highlighted in his works.  They were not overly detailed nor were they ‘busy’.  The backgrounds were often uniform or split by a crudely painted horizon.  Tingatinga was a self taught artist with no formal training, instead learning his painting technique one day and one painting at a time.

However, the Tingatinga story was not to have a happy ending.  On May 17, 1972 Tingatinga died suddenly in Dar es Salaam and after his death there was considerable confusion about the business among his family members.  The students in his family had only been apprenticing for less than two years and no successor to Tingatinga had been appointed.  In time things within the family settled down and the business continued on.  The “five students” continued to supply the NAT and run the Morogoro stores location.

After Tingatinga’s death the tight reign over the group was suddenly gone and numerous painters that were previously kept outside were allowed to join, although even today it is largely a Makua group of painters.

Tingatinga was the father of this style of painting.  And although the style he created has changed a lot through the generations of painters, it is still to E.S. Tingatinga that the painters owe the birth of this genre of painting.

Today there are well over 40 painters in a new entity called the Tinga Arts Co-operative Society (TACS).  This co-operative was designed to collect commissions from all members to cover the overhead expenses of all the member stores.  There are now three Tingatinga locations in Dar-es-Salaam, the Craft and Tingatinga Art Promotion Society at Morogoro Stores, the Slipway group and the Village Museum group.  Several artists have also gone on to paint independently from TACS.

Resources:

TINGATINGA - the popular paintings from Tanzania.  Yves Goscinny.

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