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Makonde art is an integration of dated practices of woodwork met with a demand of woodcarving of the modernized world. After the introduction of road systems in the plateaus between Tanzania and Mozambique by Portuguese troops during World War I, the traditional sense of the practice began to shift to meet new social and economical demands. [3]
In Makonde rituals, when a girl becomes a woman, Muidini is the best dancer out of the group of girls undergoing the rituals. The Makonde are best known for their wood carvings, primarily made of blackwood ( Dalbergia melanoxylon , or mpingo), and their observances of puberty rites.
George Lilanga's colourful artworks underscore a whimsical evolution from traditional Makonde art, which is the source of the shetani fantastic creatures, depicted in virtually all of Lilanga's paintings and sculptures. Traditionally, Makonde sculptors choose the finest woods for their pieces and would frown upon painting over the woods ...
In some carvings the bishop appears as a witch doctor (native to 19th century east African culture). The pawn is carved in the style of an ordinary Makonde tribesman. Makonde chess sets are usually carved from african blackwood, known as mpingo (the black pieces) and a kind of rosewood (the white pieces). Chess sets of this style are still ...
The name 'Makonde' is derived from the typical woodland thickets of the plateau. [3] The soil is light and sandy but fertile, and the Makonde people on the plateau traditionally practiced a form of swidden agriculture with a three-crop rotation. Trees were cut down to stumps, which provide support for vine crops (beans, pumpkins, and cucumbers ...
There are many types of shetani, with various attributes, and they take on many forms; abstract, animal, anthropomorphic and combinations thereof. Whether one-legged or one-armed, cyclopic or with exaggerated orifices and appendages, the essential nature of the shetani is a distorted, asymmetrical human figure, a common world archetype, [4] A typical carving, done in ebony or African blackwood ...
Mwenge neighborhood is especially known for the large Makonde community, whose artisan crafts market where ebony sculptures and other crafts are sold. The market is a major tourist attraction of Dar es Salaam. Several shops have adjacent workshops where visitors are invited to watch Makonde sculptors at work.
The native peoples of the Mtwara Region are the Makonde, the Yao and the Makua. The Makonde are the dominant ethnic group in Mtwara Region and are native to east and central Mtwara, specifically in Mtwara-Mikindani District, Mtwara District, Newala, and Tandahimba districts. As of 1967, the Makonde made up 60% of the region.