George Lilanga
African tribal dance acrylic on board painting
c.1990

About the Item

George Lilanga (1934-2005) - Tribal dance - Acrylic on board Painting size 61x61 cm. Frameless. George Lilanga was born in 1934 in the city of Kikwetu, in the southeast of Tanzania and died in 2005, also in Tanzania, in Dar-es-Salaam. Like most Makonde youth, Lilanga learned to carve yucca roots before beginning to carve granadilla wood (mpingo), something he did under the tutelage of Mzee Sumaili. In 1974, Lilanga decided to try his luck in Dar es Salaam, where he joined a group of sculptors, but his big break came after he was hired as a watchman at Nyumba ya Sanaa, now called the Nyerere Cultural Center. There he had the opportunity to show his sculptures to the management team, who recognized his talent and immediately changed his duties. Later he began to paint, doing work on batiks, murals, canvases, and paintings on goatskin. To this day, his creations can still be seen in the Nyumba ya Saana, specifically the painted metal gate and the cement decorations surrounding the courtyard. The great leap in the career of George Lilanga took place in 1978. In that year a great exhibition was held in Washington D.C. in which 100 of his works were shown. Thanks to this, the interest aroused by his work caused his works to reach forums and museums almost all over the world, becoming part of collections and traveling exhibitions of contemporary African art of great relevance today, such as Africa Remix or the pigozzi collection. He is currently considered one of the greatest representatives of Contemporary African Art. All of his work allowed him to contribute to the upkeep of his tribe and at the same time bring foreign attention to their culture. Lilanga presents the culture and mythology of her people through canvases full of figures in which, through color and irony, she has masterfully recreated and updated the plastic language of her people. His works materialize the Makonde worldview and mythology, present in the "mapiko" dances, typical of his tribe, performed by an infinity of "Shetanis" or representative spirits of good and bad that populate our imagination and to whom we must look straight.

Creator:

George Lilanga (1934 - 2005, Spanish)

Creation Year:

c.1990

Dimensions:

Height: 24.02 in (61 cm)Width: 24.02 in (61 cm)

Medium:

Board,Acrylic

Movement & Style:

Tribal

Period:

1990-1999