Mohamed Charinda (TANZANIAN 1947-2021)

Lot description

MOHAMED CHARINDA (TANZANIAN 1947-2021) AFRICAN COURT ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE RIGHTS signed CHARINDA lower left oil on canvas 80 x 100.5cm; 31 1/2 x 39 1/2in unframed Property of a Private Collector, London Provenance Acquired from the artist by the present owner Charinda was born in Tanzania in the village of Nakupanya, Tunduru District, Ruvuma Region. In 1972, he moved to Dar es Salaam and from 1974 trained under the artist Hashim Mruta. He is one of the earliest and most recognised followers of the Tingatinga school of art, founded by Edward Saidi Tingatinga (1932-72). Artists of the Tingatinga school commonly depict idealised nature and the people and culture of Tanzania in a colourful, naïve style, and he was one of the first artists to introduce different media and techniques to theit practice. For instance, he painted on canvas instead of board, which allowed tourists to carry them home easily, making the art more marketable. Contrary to his fellow apprentices, Charinda's subject matter focuses on Tanzanian history, often portraying politial issues such as warfare and the East African slave trade, folk tales and scenes of rural life. The present work is a comment on the treatment of people with Alabnism in Tanzania, who suffer from ritual killings and amputations and whose case has been taken up by the Human Rights Watch. As a member of the Tingatinga Arts Cooperative Society, Charinda's work has been exhibited in Switzerland and Paris at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Tresors de L'Islam en Afrique: De Tombouctou à Zanzibar. His work can also be found in the Brtish Museum, the Fondazione Imago Mundi and Indigo Arts in Philadelphia, USA.