UNYAGIO WA KIMAKUA (INITIATION CEREMONY)
signed in English Charindra; titled in Swahili lower right
acrylic on canvas
70 x 110cm; 27 1/2 x 43 1/3in
(unframed)

Property from a Private Collection, London

Provenance
Acquired from the artist

Charinda trained under the artist Hashim Mruta, and is a follower of the Tinga Tinga school of art, founded by Edward Saidi Tingatinga. The artists commonly depicted idealised wildlife scences in bright colours. Contrary to his fellow apprentices, Charinda's subject matter focuses on Tanzanian history, often portraying warfare, the East African slave trade, folk tales and rural scenes of life. He was one of the first artists to introduce different media and techniques to the practice. For instance using canvas, instead of masonite panels, allowed tourists to carry them home easily, making the art more marketable.

Charinda exhibited at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris in Tresors de L'Islam en Afrique: De Tombouctou à Zanzibar, in which he had a version of the ivory and slave trade painting (see lot 74). Other artworks of his can be found in the Brtish Museum, and Indigo Arts in Philadelphia, USA.