African painting Tingatinga
Born in Africa in 60s of the twentieth century, Tingatinga got its name from its founder, Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga. Born in 1932, he grew up in a poor peasant family in a village Nakapanya, in southern Tanzania. By the way, according to some sources, the year of his birth is 1937. We can only guess what exactly made Eduardo draw – memories of village life or fairy tales and myths, which he had heard from his grandparents. Or, perhaps, European colorful posters or images of Hindu deities, he had seen in the shops and houses where he worked, or simply need to make money.
The fact is, before he painted his first pictures on cardboard, he had drawn on the walls of houses.

Initially, all the work was about the size of 60×60 cm, which led to what some sources called “square painting.” To create the paintings he used enamel paint (traditionally used for cars and bikes), sometimes with the addition of oil.
Meanwhile, Eduardo sold his paintings on the streets of Dar es Salaam – Morogoro town in Storrs, Osterbey area. The area where lived many Europeans about Muhimbili Hospital, where he was working, and it gave him some money.

African painting Tingatinga

Unfortunately, the world lost the talented artist in 1972, when a policeman killed Eduardo mistaken him for a fugitive. The Tingatinga school survived him, and grew in size and relevance. Through his followers and imitators, the style gradually became the prominent type of tourist-oriented paintings in both Tanzania, Kenya, and a large part of East Africa.
The grave of the artist is in the Msasani Cemetery in Dar es Salaam.

Since the mid 80’s almost every year the exhibitions of African painting Tingatinga take place in galleries and museums worldwide. In particular, in France, England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the U.S. Japan, and Scandinavian countries.

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