The man behind the name

Edward Saidi Tingatinga

Edward Saidi Tingatinga was born in 1932 in Namochelia, a small farming village in the Tunduru district of southern Tanzania. His father, a farmer, was Ngindo and his mother was Makua. He went to the local mission school, but money was short and he had to leave after only a few years.

At 25 he left home to cut sisal on the plantations near Tanga, and in 1960 he moved to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's busiest city. An uncle, who worked as a cook, found him a job as a gardener. He later sold fruit and worked as an assistant at Muhimbili Hospital. He was also a musician who played the xylophone and performed traditional dances with his group.

Before he painted, he made baskets and drew designs for table mats and cloth. In 1968 he began copying those designs onto hardboard. He had no formal art training and no proper art supplies, so he used what he could find: glossy enamel paint, the kind used on bicycles and houses, brushed onto squares of ceiling board. That choice of materials gave his work its trademark look: flat, shining, very bright colours that seem to glow.

A new way of painting

• Bold colour. Pure yellows, reds, blues and greens, set side by side with no shading.
• Black outlines. Every shape is outlined firmly, so each animal stands out.
• Animals with character. Giraffes, elephants, leopards and birds, painted with big eyes and a sense of humour.
• Pattern everywhere. Spots, dots and zig-zags fill the backgrounds and borders.

He sold his first painting for ten shillings outside the Morogoro Stores in Oyster Bay, a neighbourhood of Dar es Salaam. Before long his paintings were in demand with local people and visitors alike. The National Arts Council began supplying his materials, selling his work and showing it in exhibitions. For the first time, he could paint full time.

“All the same they are good; this is why people buy them. They must somehow be meaningful.”

Edward Saidi Tingatinga, on his paintings

He did not keep his methods to himself. He invited relatives to learn beside him, among them his nephew Omary Amonde, January Linda and Simon Mpata, so that they could earn a living from painting too.

His life at a glance

1. 1932

   Born in Namochelia, a village in the Tunduru district of southern Tanzania, near the border with Mozambique.

2. 1957

   Leaves home at 25 to work on the sisal plantations of the Tanga region.

3. 1960

   Moves to Dar es Salaam, working as a gardener and later at Muhimbili Hospital.

4. 1968

   Paints his first pictures with bicycle paint on squares of ceiling board.

5. 1970

   Marries Agatha Mataka, who helps him sell his paintings.

6. 1971

   His work is shown by the National Arts Council, including at the Saba Saba International Trade Fair.

7. 1972

   Dies aged about forty, only four years after he first started painting.

His legacy

Tingatinga's career lasted only about four years. In 1972 he was shot and killed by police, who mistook him for someone they were chasing. He was around forty years old, and is buried in Msasani, Dar es Salaam, the neighbourhood where he lived and painted.

His style lived on after him. His students kept painting, took on students of their own, and the style grew into a whole school of art that carries his name. In time his followers formed the Tingatinga Arts Cooperative Society in Dar es Salaam, where painters still work in his tradition today. Tingatinga paintings now hang in homes, galleries and collections all over the world, and the style is one of the best-known examples of modern East African art.