George Lilanga belonged to the Makonde people and lived most of his life in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania. Featured in a number of landmark exhibitions devoted to African art, including the international touring African Remix (2004), and African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection (Museum of Fine Art, Houston 2005), Lilanga became the foremost Tanzinian artist from his generation and was hailed as the leading African artist by the influential art collector, Jean Pigozzi.

Initially, he worked in the Makonde artistic tradition of carving wooden sculptures. However after having been exposed to the work of other artists at the cultural centre Nyumba ya Sanaa (House of Art), he transformed his typical sculptural forms into two-dimensional art works such as paintings, etchings or panels (as in the present work). Developing his own style out of the Shetani (devils) figures of the modern Makonde sculptures, his paintings are characterised by their colourful irony, reflecting everyday life in Tanzania.