EVENTS

Makonde art this evening at Baby Marrow Restaurant

Wood carver Tangawizi exhibition and workshop during dinner

07-01-2017 by redazione

The Art & Food Baby Marrow Malindi opens a window on the Makonde people and its art of carving wood.
The Mozambican people of Makonde is now famous around the world for his sculptures, but has a troubled history and also related to Kenya.
Originating in a mountainous area on the border between Mozambique and Tanzania, the Makonde emigrated after being among the most combative in opposing tribes to Portuguese colonialism. Some of them arrived in Kenya from Tanzania and were allies of Kenyan independence from the British.
So much so that once proclaimed the Republic of Kenya, the President Jomo Kenyatta gave them land and promised Kenyan citizenship to those who had distinguished himself. So the Makonde, especially in the south coast near Kwale and Shimoni, resumed sculpt and also to work the land.
But the documents, seventy years later, have not yet arrived. Many of them have retained the name of Mozambican baptism and use it as a last name, nickname that has been given in the new homeland. No one dreams to chase, but with the technology, the fourth generation of kids have difficulty being enrolled in school, get a driver's license and access to many services.
The old Makonde Kenyans, however, are artists, even street. One of them, José said Tangawizi (ginger) works the wood with ancestral and innate talent, from parts of the Nakumatt Malindi. Sometimes his works are imaginative, sometimes strong or terrible, but always incredibly expressive.
In order to see for himself the art Makonde, Jose this evening will be the Baby Marrow part of the Saturday night meeting with art and local talent. In addition to exhibiting some of his most significant works, Tangawizi sculpt live, showing qualities that derive from an ancient progeny. For information or reservations, Tel. 0700766704