Read the story of how I ended up painting these two visual artists from Tanzania who are now my friends.
oil on canvas
100 x 80 cm
2021
reference photo: CK Visuals
oil on canvas
100 x 80 cm
2021
reference photo: CK Visuals
How We Met
In 2019, my husband and I travelled to Tanzania as many of you know already. (If you don’t then visit this >>page on my website and read the whole story from the beginning.) Besides from seeing the touristy places, it was a special honor to me to meet the local visual artists. So on one day, our friend and Tanzania expert Walter Rausch took us on an artsy tour in Dar es Salaam.
Ochu
On the one hand, there is the Mwenge district in Dar es Salaam, where especially the ebony wood carvings, famous for Tanzania, have settled. But also other handicrafts and art are sold there. And there Walter introduced me to Ochu, who was working in a studio there at the time. I liked his open and friendly nature directly and also his artistic, realistic style. We exchanged contact details and Instagram profiles and are still in quite regular contact today.
Did you know that it is possible to order a painting directly from Tanzania? Find >>Ochu’s Instagram profile here to contact him.
Tinga Tinga
Then there is the Tinga Tinga cooperative in Dar es Salaam. Tinga Tinga is a special and very typical style of painting, which follows some fixed rules, but nevertheless also allows each artist a certain individuality. Since not only pictures are painted, but also objects are painted with Tinga Tinga, it is however rather considered a handicraft.
Tali
Around the premises of the Tinga Tinga cooperative there are more and other artists’ studios or even street corners where people paint. It was at one of these corners that Walter introduced us to Tali. A nice hook for getting to know artists was always the portrait I had painted of Walter, which Tali is looking at it in this photo. I am also in contact with him to this day.
Did you know that it is possible to order a painting directly from Tanzania? Find >>Tali’s Instagram profile here to contact him.
New Collaboration with Photographer in Tanzania
Since this year I can count on a new collaboration with a young and talented photographer from Dar es Salaam also, and of course, I had to sent Ochu and Tali to a photo shoot with him. So I could finally paint my two artist friends! The photographer’s name is >>CK Visuals or Cliff Kareem Lasway and I will soon dedicate a separate blog article to him 🙂
No Feminine Pronouns in this Article?
This is because the female artists in Tanzania do not work so publicly visible and therefore I did not meet any in 2019. But I am currently in the process of expanding my network in this regard and will soon have exciting news to report here as well!
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