Tinga Tinga is a style of African art where wild animals are depicted in a friendly and naive way. The paintings personify the animals to bring out the fairytale that we all associate with the African outback. The art is created with oil paint on muslin or canvas fabric. This is usually locallysourced boat or bicycle paint as this is readily available in Tanzania and Kenya. Generally the work is done out in the bush country or in outhouse shed with the most basic tools.
Tinga Tinga as a style of painting originated in Tanzania. It was named after Eduardo Said Tinga Tinga (1937-1972) who was from Namochelia,Tanzania. He started painting during break time while working on local building sites. He painted people and animals. Sometimes he was asked to paint wall adverts for local doctors or companies. Gradually more and more attention was paid to Tinga Tinga's paintings in Dar es Salaam and today the art has become an icon of east Africa.
Today, Tinga Tinga artists have their own unique styles, however, we have not seen another artist who uses a style like Sadala’s. So even within the unique genre of ‘Tinga Tinga’ they are particularly different.
