We Have Been Around Since 1968 Creating Beautiful Art for the World!
Tingatinga art was born from humble beginnings in 1960s Tanzania, when Edward Saidi Tingatinga—a sisal laborer from the village of Namochelia—arrived in Dar es Salaam with an idea that would change East African art forever.
Born in 1932, Tingatinga worked as a laborer in the Tanga region before moving to Tanzania's commercial capital in 1960. With limited resources but boundless creativity, he began painting on recycled masonite squares using bicycle enamel paint—the only materials he could afford. His subjects were distinctly Tanzanian: wildlife, savanna landscapes, and village scenes rendered in bold, vibrant colors with characteristic black outlines.
What started as a side activity to supplement his income quickly captured the imagination of European residents and tourists in Dar es Salaam. Tingatinga's style was naïve yet surrealistic, humorous yet profound. His paintings depicted lions, elephants, giraffes, and zebras not as they appeared in nature, but as they felt—emotional interpretations bursting with color and personality.
By the late 1960s, demand for his work allowed Tingatinga to become a full-time artist. Other artists in Dar es Salaam began learning his technique, and a movement was born. Tragically, Edward Saidi Tingatinga died in 1972 at age 40, but his artistic legacy was already unstoppable.
Today, Tingatinga painting is recognized as one of East Africa's most distinctive art forms. The style has evolved from bicycle paint on masonite to oil and enamel paints on canvas, but the spirit remains unchanged: bold colors, black outlines, and subjects that celebrate Tanzania's wildlife, culture, and landscapes. What began as one man's resourceful creativity has become a cherished global art form, with Tingatinga paintings displayed in homes and galleries worldwide.
Our story began just a few years after Edward Saidi Tingatinga founded the style. In 1968, we established our studio in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, working directly with artists who were learning and evolving the Tingatinga technique. For over 55 years, we've been creating authentic Tingatinga paintings in the same city where the movement began.
Today, our Dar es Salaam studio is home to a team of talented Tanzanian artists who specialize in Tingatinga painting. Each artist brings their own interpretation to the traditional style—some focus on wildlife scenes, others on village life or abstract patterns—but all share the commitment to the vibrant colors, bold outlines, and cultural authenticity that define Tingatinga art.
Every painting you see on our website is created in our Tanzania studio. We don't work with reproductions or prints. When you order a Tingatinga painting, an artist in Dar es Salaam creates it specifically for you using traditional enamel paints on canvas. This made-to-order approach ensures authenticity, supports our artists directly, and means every piece is a unique work of art.
Since 1968, we've shipped Tingatinga paintings to collectors and art lovers across six continents. What began as a local Dar es Salaam studio has grown into a bridge connecting Tanzanian artists with the world, but our roots remain firmly planted in the city where Tingatinga art was born.
READ THE REVIEWS
Modern Tingatinga art maintains the bold aesthetic of the original style while using higher-quality materials than Edward Saidi Tingatinga had access to in the 1960s.
Materials: Our artists use enamel and oil paints on stretched canvas. Enamel paint—a nod to Tingatinga's original bicycle paint—creates the luminous, vibrant colors characteristic of the style. The paints are applied to canvas that's been properly prepared and stretched on wooden frames, creating artwork that's both beautiful and durable.
Technique: The Tingatinga painting process begins with sketching the composition in pencil, then blocking in colors with bold, confident brushstrokes. Artists use the traditional black outline technique—painting dark borders around each element—which makes colors pop and creates the distinctive graphic quality Tingatinga art is known for. Multiple layers of paint build depth and luminosity.
Subjects: Traditional Tingatinga subjects include East African wildlife (elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras), village life scenes showing Tanzanian daily activities and celebrations, landscapes featuring savannas and baobab trees, and abstract patterns inspired by traditional textiles and cultural symbols.
Made to Order: When you order a Tingatinga painting from us, we don't pull it from warehouse inventory—an artist creates it specifically for you. This typically takes 7-14 days depending on the size and complexity of the piece. The made-to-order approach ensures freshness, quality, and authenticity. Your painting hasn't been sitting in storage for months; it was just created by an artist who takes pride in their craft.
Each Tingatinga painting represents hours of skilled work, cultural knowledge passed down through generations of artists, and a direct connection to the artistic movement Edward Saidi Tingatinga started over 60 years ago.
All our African paintings are made in our studios using the best materials possible!
With an extensive network of African artists all across the country, we are the largest and most inspiring visual arts experience in Africa. Our collection is broad and extensive with a total number of more than 100 local talented artists working for us.
Our vision is to continue growing as a trusted source for authentic Tingatinga art and to share these paintings with art lovers globally. We envision an online art gallery accessible to everyone as a vibrant virtual space in service of our community, to foster greater social engagement, critical thinking, and greater creativity.
Our ultimate ambition is to make a powerful contribution to the cultural life of Tanzania and the continent at large by collaborating with creative and marginalized communities to offer extraordinary African art experiences that engage, challenge and inspire diverse audiences all over the world. We are united by a common passion to offer authentic and meaningful experiences for people through African art; and a shared belief that through art we know ourselves, each other and the world, more deeply.
We are committed to supporting Tanzania's creative industry by providing sustainable opportunities for talented Tingatinga artists, helping them earn fair incomes from their craft while preserving this important cultural tradition.
We are dedicated to achieving our vision in a socially-responsible manner, with the greatest level of business ethics.
When you buy a Tingatinga painting from us, you're supporting artists and their families in Tanzania. This isn't just marketing language—it's how our business model actually works.
Direct Employment: We work directly with artists in our Dar es Salaam studio. They're not contractors or freelancers we occasionally commission—they're part of our team, creating paintings full-time. This provides stable income that supports their families, pays for children's education, and contributes to their communities.
Fair Compensation: Artists receive fair wages for their work. We've structured our business to eliminate the traditional gallery system where middlemen take the majority of profits. Because we sell directly to customers online, more of each sale goes to the artists who create the work.
Preserving Cultural Heritage: Every Tingatinga painting purchased helps keep this artistic tradition alive. When artists can earn sustainable livelihoods from their craft, they continue creating, pass techniques to younger artists, and ensure Tingatinga art thrives for future generations.
Community Impact: Beyond individual artists, these jobs support families and local economies in Dar es Salaam. When artists earn good incomes, they spend that money locally—on housing, food, education, healthcare—creating ripple effects throughout their communities.
Since 1968, we've provided employment and opportunities for Tanzanian artists specializing in Tingatinga painting. Your purchase isn't just buying art—it's participating in an economic model that values artists, preserves culture, and creates sustainable livelihoods in Tanzania.
Tingatinga art's influence extends far beyond gallery walls. In 2010, the BBC launched "Tinga Tinga Tales," an animated children's television series inspired by Tingatinga painting style. The show, aimed at children aged 3-6, uses the vibrant colors, bold patterns, and whimsical animal characters characteristic of Tingatinga art to tell traditional African folk tales.
Each episode of Tinga Tinga Tales explores origin stories—"Why do zebras have stripes?" "Why do elephants have trunks?"—set in a colorful animated world that faithfully captures the spirit of Tingatinga paintings. The series has aired in over 100 countries, introducing millions of children worldwide to Tanzanian culture and the distinctive Tingatinga aesthetic.
The success of Tinga Tinga Tales has played a significant role in raising global awareness of Tingatinga art and Tanzania's cultural heritage. It's a beautiful example of how this artistic tradition—which started with one man painting with bicycle enamel—has influenced popular culture worldwide.
Our objective is to make contemporary African art accessible to everyone by eliminating geographical, financial, or psychological barriers. Our inclusive approach gives professional artisans in Tanzania the possibility to market their paintings on to our platform.
Each and every African painting that is crafted in our African art gallery is meticulously handcrafted by skilled artisans in our studios located in Dar es Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania. We are committed to the highest standards of painting processes to ensure that every piece we create is a unique masterpiece. We take pride in our ability to deliver our African paintings to every part of the globe, no matter the size or location of your home. Our canvases are of the highest quality, and we use only premium oil and acrylic paints. We also employ the services of professional couriers to ensure that our paintings reach you in perfect condition. You can expect your order to arrive within a week of shipment, no matter where you are located in the world.
Our African artists are among the most talented in the world, and we recognize the richness of the natural and cultural resources available locally. This is why we employ only the best indigenous talent in our studios. We are committed to producing our African artworks and paintings ethically and professionally, with a strong focus on responsible business practices. We believe that sustainable business begins with responsible business, and this ethos drives our progressive business agenda. Our agenda encompasses leveraging Tanzania's unique cultural assets and adhering to the highest standards of marketing, innovation, and product quality. We take our commitment to excellence seriously, and we are proud to deliver our African paintings to a global audience.
At our African art online store, we pride ourselves on providing a comprehensive selection of authentic African art and paintings to customers across the globe. We have established a reputation as a trusted and authoritative source for African art, and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our satisfied customers in nearly every country in the world.
Our commitment to fostering positive and productive relationships between artists, patrons, and galleries is at the heart of our success. We strive to continually showcase fresh, innovative work from our talented artists and to offer a diverse range of pieces to suit every taste and budget. We believe that our customers deserve the very best, and we go to great lengths to ensure their complete satisfaction.
Our dedication to exceptional customer service sets us apart. We maintain an Excellent rating on Trustpilot with over 140 five-star reviews from satisfied customers worldwide. We are constantly seeking to improve and refine our approach to customer service, as we believe that engaged, satisfied customers are the key to our long-term success.
We warmly welcome art lovers and collectors from around the world to explore our extensive collection of African art and paintings. We are eager to receive your ideas and feedback, as we believe that collaboration and engagement are the cornerstones of our business. We stand behind our products and services, and are happy to provide references and a satisfaction guarantee.
We are passionate about African art and are committed to sharing its beauty and significance with the world. Join us in celebrating the rich cultural heritage of Africa through our exceptional collection of art and paintings.
We take great pride in being one of the largest online African art galleries on the continent. Our mission is to empower our artists and their families by providing access to jobs in Tanzania and cutting out the middleman, allowing for maximum profit for our artisans. Through this, we are able to create more and better paying jobs for the community, generate more foreign exchange for the country, and contribute to its development.
We are deeply committed to creating value for our customers, artists, and society at large. As the largest and most successful online African art gallery on the continent, we are dedicated to exporting African art to a large international customer base. We have a large network of artists across Tanzania and partner with the largest logistics companies in the world, enabling us to export to every country in the world, free of charge.
Our efforts have established us as one of the world's largest players in the creative industry in Africa with a formidable workforce and global export logistics capacity. In addition, handmade artworks are exempt from import duties and sales taxes in most countries, providing an added incentive for our global customers to enjoy duty-free purchases from us. We are proud of our achievements and remain committed to expanding our reach and making a positive impact in our community and beyond.
All our African paintings are handmade in our Tanzanian studios using the best quality inputs.
|
Centimeters (CM) |
Inches (IN) |
|
50CM x 40CM |
19 11/16 in X 15 3/4 in |
|
50CM x 50CM |
19 11/16 in X 19 11/16 in |
|
60CM x 60CM |
23 5/8 in X 23 5/8 in |
|
70CM x 50CM |
27 9/16 in X 19 11/16 in |
|
80CM x 60CM |
31 1/2 in X 23 5/8 in |
|
100CM x 80CM |
39 3/8 in X 31 1/2 in |
|
140CM x 110CM |
55 1/8 in X 43 5/16 in |
