AfricanColours - “Tinga Tinga

Tanzania Tue 13-04-2010

“Tinga Tinga - The Great Error
By Alex Drummer/Articlebase.com

It is not very often that a new trend in art gets the name of only one person. So this is a special tribute to Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga who was the founder of the East African Tingatinga style in the early 1970s in Dar es Salaam.

In the follwing decades paintings in the typical colourful style called “Tingatinga Art" became well known through exhibitions and books world-wide.

My lovely daughters by Colleen Madamombe

^{Tinga Tinga Animation}

In contrast to this, the term "Tinga Tinga" was not an East African brand at any time. The contrary assertion is wrong.

The name "Tinga Tinga" never has played a role also in the international art-scene. No serious art expert and no Tinga tinga artist who knows his roots use this. The only correct name is the term Tingatinga (for art, paintings etc).

Currently regarding visual arts, only the word combination "Tinga Tinga Tales" is a registered trademark in some countries and belongs to the company Tiger Aspect Production from UK.

The background of this is of interest. Some greedy people from the Tingatinga Arts Cooperative Society (TACS) in Dar es Salaam/Tanzania sold to Tiger Aspect the rights to use the words "Tinga Tinga".

It is therefore remarkable because the TACS neither was and is the owner of the right of this term and also only a few Tingatinga artists are represented by the TACS. But exactly why is this organization, that signed a bad contract without consultation of experts, now knowingly spreads wrong information about the term "Tinga Tinga" and tells the fairytale of the "sale of Tanzanian cultural heritage".

Art by David Mzunguno

^{Tingtinga style flowers by Tanzanian artist David Mzunguno}

Finally, the TACS claimed that "Tinga Tinga is part of national identity, a national asset, a symbol for Tanzania as a national flag". This is completely untrue.

What is the truth?

No East African artist will get any problems using the correct and the known term "Tingatinga" for his art style, for paintings, for books etc.

No artist should use "Tinga Tinga". It harms himself and creates confusion. The TACS finally should stop to require and to use the term "Tinga Tinga" for itself.

No artist should think that the running TV series "Tinga Tinga Tales" will realise positivebenefits for the Tingatinga art.

This TV production and the entire merchandising around happens in a market, on which African art-styles and artists don't have anything to win.

But it would not be surprising, if in one or two years the whole hype about "Tinga Tinga Tales" is over.

*Views expressed in this opinion piece do not reflect those of AfricanColours.com

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Your Comments

Osei G Kofi: For goodness sake, let’s stop bamboozling people. Any first year law student can puncture holes into the claim that no one can use the term “Tinga Tinga.” The appellation that Tiger Aspect Production/UK is allegedly claiming has a well defined and distinct etymology : Tingatinga. “Tinga Tinga” or any other form of the same - be it “Tin Ga Tin Ga” or what have you - has a specific and universally acknowledged source: the estate of the Tanzanian Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga. ES Tingatinga’s name and art genre have long passed into posterity and into free and common usufruct, be it Tanzanian, continental Africa of global. In this instance the only exclusivity Tiger Aspect Production/UK may claim and can defend is “Tinga Tinga Tales.” End of story. This reminds of the case a while back, just as Apartheid was ending, when a British (another!)beverage company attempted to patent and enjoy exclusive usage of brand name “Rooibush” (Afrikaans for red bush), a wild shrub used as “tea” and is indigenous to South Africa and which generations of South Africans had enjoyed. The nonsensical exclusive claim of the British tea importer to “Rooibush” or “Rooi Bush” went nowhere – not only because it was injurious and offensive to South Africans, it had no legs to stand on in law. Thank you very much.

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