Mohammed Charinda

Mohamed Wasia Charinda was born in the Nakapanya village in the Ruvuma region in southern Tanzania in the year of 1947. Charinda’s teacher was Hashim Mruta. Charinda started to paint in 1975. It is said that he was the first painter who changed from masonite boards to textile canvas, which was in 1989. Charinda is married and has six children. His art is well known. He was recently included in the book ANGAZA AFRIKA by Chris Spring, curator at Sainsbury African galleries at the British Museum of London. He exhibited in Switzerland in 1999, in Reunion Island with John Kilaka (photo 4 from left) and many other places. His three sons also paint: Athumani (teacher of Zuberi and John Mwangu), Apai and Amili. His daughter Fatuma married recently with Maulana Saidi (The illustrator of Tinga Tinga Tales by BBC/Disney) Charinda´s wife Dalili also paints (photo 2 from left).

Visiting Charinda´s brother in South Tanzania

In April 2010 I got a question from Denmark: "I have a painting from 1975 and it is signed A.Mchisa. Do you know the painter?" Yes, I do know the painter, I have visited him in February 2009 in the Tinga Tinga villages in south Tanzania, 700 km from Dar es Salaam. He left his native village Mtonya for Dar es Salaam in seventies to find better life as a Tinga Tinga Painter. But later he failed and returned to south Tanzania. He was one of the first painters to paint in Tinga Tinga style in Tanzania. When I met him in Mtonya in 2009 he was without wife or family. He was extreemly welcoming and modest person. He was lonely, living in the forest where he had a small farm. It took 1 hour by food to reach his place. I was wondering how he could live here alone. At the time I met him he had no food and he was sick. I bought him a chicken and fanta. He was very happy. Unlike his brother Mohamed Charinda, he was very slim. He told me that if he had colors and a canvas he would paint me a painting. I didn´t believe him. I didn´t believe his story until I got the question from Denmark in April 2010. (photo 2 from left: Daniel Augusta with mother of Mr. Charinda, photo 4: Daniel Augusta with Zainabu Abassi Mchisa, photo 5: Since there are no hotels in Mtonya, me and Ilona Bittnerova were guests of Mimus´s brother. They gave us a hut. But I was surprised to see Mimus´ brother sleeping outside when I woke up one night. The hospitality of Tanzanians is limitless, photo 6: Ilona Bittnerova with Abassi Mchisa.

Tinga Tinga Tales

1. Once upon a time there lived a certain young, stubborn boy named Shimbonje. Shimbonje had friends who would play with him. 2. One day Shimbonje made a snare for trapping birds in the forest. Shimbonje’s parents warned him about where he is going, that there are dangerous places, and that there is a ghost that devours people, therefore as they go to trap the birds they should not go far into the forest, because in the mountains is where the ghost dwells. 3. Shimbonje and his friends went to trap the birds. They got to the forest and started to put up the snares. Shimbonje then left his friends asking them to wait for him as he goes behind the mountains to set up his snares, at a place where they were forbidden to go. 4. They then went back home, in the evening they went back to the forest to see if there were any birds trapped in the snares. 5. Shimbonje went behind the mountains and found a ghost was trapped in his snare. The ghost asked Shimbonje to release him from the snare, Shimbonje agreed to do that.

Ok, i don´t tell you more! Come to the exhibtion in Finland in October 2010 and you will see