If you click on the image you can see a larger version of it - this is a typical Tanzanian scene, by an artist known as Mbata I love African art. Nothing quite matches the original paintings and sketches created by the talented young artists here who sit at makeshift tables, under shady trees along busy roads as the African traffic dust swirls in the air above them, taxi’s hoot and women call as the smell of fresh maize cobs roasted over open fires fills your nostrils …
I believe that all these elements of Africa … all these things going on around us that alert our senses, are somehow, magically, unexplainably woven into the paintings these artists create and are part of what makes this art as special – and unique - as it is.
Finding gifts for loved ones for birthday’s and Christmases here is quite difficult as there is not much to choose from aside from tourist knick knacks and cheap knock-off goods (where, oh where, am I going to make use of a knock-off Louis Vuitton handbag in 3rd world Africa – the local market, perhaps ?) Well, certainly when we moved here 10 years ago there was hardly anything at all to choose from. Which is when I had the idea of starting to collect original African art. There was so much of it around me, so many talented artists – so I told my husband then and there that he could buy me a lovely local piece of art for each birthday, or Christmas – which he dutifully did !
Our house now has original African art in almost every room … it is not overdone though, as each piece is original and completely different to the other. I know that art is a really personal thing, and not everyone may like my taste, but I thought that it might be nice, over time, to post pictures of some of the African art I have, and write a little about the artists – well, what info I have on the artists that are more well known than others.
So, here is a typical Tanzanian scene in the photo above … a young man pulling a wooden cart by hand. These carts are called “kokaten” here and are found all over the busy towns (and even smaller villages). They are hired by people to move anything from vegetables, furniture, spare parts or chickens from place to place. It is a hard job and these men are very fit, very muscular and very fast, weaving their kokaten’s in and out of the busy traffic and dodging the potholes and livestock at the same time. I am always polite to them and give them right of way because I am in awe of what they do, and the heavy loads they pull.
Anyway, I’ve gone slightly off the subject here … if you look closely at the picture above, you’ll see that it is not a painting but is, in fact, made up of hundreds and hundreds of tiny squares of old magazines … almost like a paper maiche or decoupage effect .
The artist is a man called Mbata and all I have been told about him is that he is a Kenyan who comes to northern Tanzania from time to time and creates this art whilst he is here, sells it to make some money and his taxi fare back to Kenya, and then heads off again. I simply love his work, and I also have another picture of his which is of a man and a women on a bicycle together, with chickens pecking in the dry earth around them.
Beautiful, really beautiful - and quite amazing to think that it has all just been created out of pieces of old magazines !
I believe that all these elements of Africa … all these things going on around us that alert our senses, are somehow, magically, unexplainably woven into the paintings these artists create and are part of what makes this art as special – and unique - as it is.
Finding gifts for loved ones for birthday’s and Christmases here is quite difficult as there is not much to choose from aside from tourist knick knacks and cheap knock-off goods (where, oh where, am I going to make use of a knock-off Louis Vuitton handbag in 3rd world Africa – the local market, perhaps ?) Well, certainly when we moved here 10 years ago there was hardly anything at all to choose from. Which is when I had the idea of starting to collect original African art. There was so much of it around me, so many talented artists – so I told my husband then and there that he could buy me a lovely local piece of art for each birthday, or Christmas – which he dutifully did !
Our house now has original African art in almost every room … it is not overdone though, as each piece is original and completely different to the other. I know that art is a really personal thing, and not everyone may like my taste, but I thought that it might be nice, over time, to post pictures of some of the African art I have, and write a little about the artists – well, what info I have on the artists that are more well known than others.
So, here is a typical Tanzanian scene in the photo above … a young man pulling a wooden cart by hand. These carts are called “kokaten” here and are found all over the busy towns (and even smaller villages). They are hired by people to move anything from vegetables, furniture, spare parts or chickens from place to place. It is a hard job and these men are very fit, very muscular and very fast, weaving their kokaten’s in and out of the busy traffic and dodging the potholes and livestock at the same time. I am always polite to them and give them right of way because I am in awe of what they do, and the heavy loads they pull.
Anyway, I’ve gone slightly off the subject here … if you look closely at the picture above, you’ll see that it is not a painting but is, in fact, made up of hundreds and hundreds of tiny squares of old magazines … almost like a paper maiche or decoupage effect .
The artist is a man called Mbata and all I have been told about him is that he is a Kenyan who comes to northern Tanzania from time to time and creates this art whilst he is here, sells it to make some money and his taxi fare back to Kenya, and then heads off again. I simply love his work, and I also have another picture of his which is of a man and a women on a bicycle together, with chickens pecking in the dry earth around them.
Beautiful, really beautiful - and quite amazing to think that it has all just been created out of pieces of old magazines !
