TINGA TINGA ART

Under Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, on the golden beaches of Zanzibar, and on the hot streets of Dar es Salaam you will find the Tinga Tinga painters. No wonder, Tanzania is also home of Tinga Tinga art which is performed by hundreds of artists every day. Though unbelievable, this school of art was started by a single man in 1968 – his name was E.S. Tingatinga (see left, copyright J.Kirknaes). The Cooperative, with almost 100 active painters, is one of the largest illustration, design and art studios in the world. Incredibly, these same people who have been scraping to surviving on their creative skills for so many years are now the same artist members of the Tingatinga Cooperative who painted the illustrations for the series of 52 films called “Tinga Tinga Tales”.

The African tradition of decorating the walls of dwellings with elaborate designs was the inspiration that brought Tinga Tinga art out of the home and onto the streets where it was discovered by tourists on safari to these remote lands. When Tinga Tinga paintings became more popular among the tourists, the family of E.S. Tingatinga (see right, the children of E..S.Tingatinga at the Cooperative, copyright D.Augusta) decided to establish Tingatinga Arts Co-operative Society (TACS), in 1990.