Cheery wave from the walls

Once you get your eye in, it soon becomes apparent that there are in fact many different styles of Tingatinga painting — from the bold literalism of market scenes by Said Mkumba to the ethereal delicacy of the fantasy birds painted with such skill by Hamadi Yusufu.

Both these well known painters from the Tingatinga Arts Co-operative Society are represented in the exhibition being held at Le Rustique restaurant on General Mathenge Drive, Nairobi, until the end of October.

Others of note include Sey Rashid Hussein, who contributes a people-packed view of Zanzibar Prison, and Godfrey Tamaru, whose social message is that condoms save lives.

His picture, on a threatening red ground, is split into two, one half showing a bee-keeper and asking “Would you harvest honey without protection?” and the other half showing a couple, while posing the question, “So why jump into bed without a condom?” And it adds: “Aids kills.”

Tingatinga painting, considering its universal spread and popular appeal is a comparatively recent phenomenon.

The name, which resonates well in Kenya, is not a reference to a tractor, nor indeed to a Kenyan politician nor to a political party.

Rather was it the surname of the self-taught painter Edward Saidi Tingatinga, who padded out his meagre income at the Muhimbili Medical Centre in Dar es Salaam, by knocking out a few pictures in his spare time for sale to tourists.

They proved to be popular. So popular that he turned to painting full time but his new career, tragically, lasted for only four years — from 1968 to 1972 — before he was cut down and killed by a stray police bullet.

By then his fame had spread and he had passed on his skills to six students — Simon Mpata, January Linda, Adeus Matambwe, Kasper Henric Tedo, Abdallah Ajaba and Omary Amonde — now all big names in the Tingatinga world

They in turn each passed on the technique and the school’s subject matter to new groups of students — who themselves found students … until now, some 37 years later, there are estimated to be 400-500 painters producing Tingatinga art.

Of these, around 90 — including Daudi, the son of Edward Saidi Tingatinga — operate from the studios of the Tingatinga Arts Co-operative Society at Msasani in Dar.

As is frequently the case, the popularity of the paintings shaped their execution.

Bought mainly by tourists they are generally of a size that can be taken home on an aeroplane, which is why the larger ones are on canvas so they can be rolled and put in a tube for transport, while the smaller ones are on suitcase-sized boards.

More importantly Tingatinga paintings usually contain the elements most foreigners expect to see in African art: Colour, animals and birds, happy village scenes, a general air of good cheer and joy.

They do not for instance contain overt political comment nor protest at police brutality and corruption, nor hark back to recent unpleasant events, although some pictures — including those by Godfrey — occasionally carry warnings about Aids … popular with tourists who have a social conscience.