''UJAMAA" Makonde Ebony Carving

Hi, today i want to talk about an ebony carving called "Ujamaa", some people refer to it as the "Family Tree".
First of all what is "Ujamaa"? It is a Swahili word which means extended family or family hood. I prefer to refer to it as communal living.
Makonde Ebony carvers just like artist, they communicate or tell a story through what they are carving.
Now as we look at the "Ujamaa" carving it tells us about village life and the various activities performed by the villagers.
On the onset of Arusha Declaration Policy in Tanzania early 1967, Makonde carvers started to carve carvings which will motivate people to live in the village so as to go along with the Government

policy. Likewise musician, Poets, performers and so forth. The joint efforts in conjunction with the Government bear ed fruits, villages were established.

Ujamaa Ebony carving

Now as we look at the carving we see many people entwined together. Here the carver want to tell us that these people are united, there is peace, work together, live harmoniously together (people from various tribe, ethics and religion) in the same area (village), speak a common language (Swahili), love one another, they are all equal(no gender issues), They are Organized and so forth. By looking at it you can add many more additions.

And if we look closely, we will see each individual holding something on his / her hand and carrying  something on the head. These reflects the various activities performed in the village. For instance on the carving we can see a man holding an axe, it implies he is going to chop logs for firewood or cut a log for carving work. Here he is seen as an individual, but in reality, a day is set aside where all men in the village perform this activity collectively, likewise other activities.

So from the carving you can be able to depict the life style of the Makonde people, in those days. So an Ujamaa carving is History which is in perpetual growth.
We have  stock of Ujamaa carvings in our shop, Sanaa Zetu. You are most welcome. customer satisfaction is our motto.

Kanga the mostly used clothing in Tanzania

commonly used kanga wrap at home

Attending Occasions

Attending Occasions

As a headscarf

Tanzanian women love Kangas and one woman can have several pairs. And for those who are kanga enthusiast they make a new purchase every week. Kanga is used by our women tied on the waist on top of a dress as an apron of its kind whilst attending her daily duties in her home. It is also used to hold and cover a new born baby. And when the baby has grown, they use kanga as a baby carrier on her back. Also men wear their wive kanga whilst at home. At funeral occasions almost all women their wear kangas around them. At send off parties the husband to be is put to test. He has to pin point her wife to be amongst several women completely covered by kangas. A kanga can also be used as a headscarf.Apart from the uses mention a kanga has several other uses such as decorative material on send off or wedding occasions...etc. And some of our ladies carry a kanga in their handbags for use in emergency situation.

 So you can imagine the total number of kangas in our homesteads. Kanga is sold as a pair called "Doti".

Guinea fowl (Kanga)

Guinea fowl feather

So let us look at what makes the kanga to be a so special clothing to our women folks.
Kanga is the Swahili name of bird called Guinea fowl. And that is where the clothing got its name.
Designers were inspired by the dotted patten on the Guinea fowl s feathers.
A kanga is rectangular in shape and measures 110cm by 150cm. It has brilliant print and a swahili saying on it, which is enclosed with a border all around it.
Kanga  production started in early 1950 s in India and China and brought to East African coast by trade merchants.So you see it was initially worn by coastal people and Zanzibar Island. And then spread inwards into the mainland as it grew in popularity. In the mid of 1960 s kanga production started in Tanzania.
When you are talking of its quality, it varies from country to country. As for Tanzanian Kangas is made from 100% of pure cotton cloth.

relax my heart don t quarrel with a poker of other people business                   

work hard in fabricating a gossip it does not bother me

I know you  have slipped and that is why i have not asked

\

You are most welcome to visit our shop Sanaa Zetu, for  your Kanga and other needs. customer satisfaction is our motto.

The Maasai Blanket ''LUBEGA"

The Maasai  are amongst the few tribes in Tanzania who are still adhering to their culture. And their famous for that. This people are herders of cattle (nomads),  so they  move from one place to another in search of good pasture and water for their cattle. It is a tradition of Maasai men  to wear colourful outfit  known as "lubega" in Kiswahili or popularly known as Maasai blanket. This piece of cloth they just simply fling it around their bodies. And to hold it in place they use to tie it into a knot near the shoulder area, with belt  support  around their waist. The belt also carries the "sime" (Maasai sword) and a club. The Maasai warrior plait their hair in a very unique style of their own, also put on "lukaria",a special red soil all over their bodies. For a complete attire dress up they elongate the lobes of their ears by making big holes on them, carry a shield, a spear and put on sandals made from old used car tyres. When fully dressed up they attract a lot of attention to passer by. Tourist love to take a photograph with them. Now a days we see man from other tribes also flinging the Maasai blanket around their bodies to keep them warm during cold season.
The Maasai cuture is very rich, to write about it, you are talking of writting a book of many pages.

Maasai wariors getting organised just before perfoming their traditional
Maasai dance

People from other tribes wearing Maasai attire

The Maasai blanket is available in a wide variety of colour mix. Below  you can see some of the varieties. The blanket can also be used as a table cloth, curtain,  car cushions, sofa upholstery etc.

 At  our Shop Sanaa Zetu we have a wide variety of Maasai blankets.You are most welcome. We are based in Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. Customer satisfaction is our motto.

                                                             KARIBU SANA

ladies colourful beaded leather sandals

Ladies colourful beaded leather sandals are worn by most urban Tanzanian women as a casual wear. They like wearing the sandals because it make them stand out,look presentable and also easy to put on. The women when shopping for them they  always mix Kiswahili and English to describe what they are looking for. They go like this " Natafuta sandals za shanga" ( i am looking for beaded sandals)  or sometimes they ask " Una sandals za culture?"(do you have cultural sandals?)

Above sandal beads designs are just a few amongst the many designs we have at our shop. This sandals are also found in other shops and stalls  in the streets of Moshi Municipality. So here it  up to the needs of the customer if  she is looking for  cheap sandals but  poor quality or sandals money worth and good quality.  At Sanaa Zetu  we sell quality products and customer satisfaction is our motto. You are most welcome to visit our shop. Which is in Moshi,Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. 

Batik Art Paintings

Mother and child
Batik card

Abstract

Maasai Women

The Traditional Dancers

Fetching water

Batik Art Paintings this comprises of painting simple sketches on fabric material, using light dyes and gradually progress to darker dyes. After each application of dye, molten wax is used as the media of separating the colours. sometimes the molten wax applied, is purposely cracked in an artistic way so as to create as certain pattern  on application of dye of the following stage of  the painting.  On completion of the painting, Molten wax is removed physically using both hands in a rhythm way, like someone washing a piece of cloth. Finally the remains of wax, is removed by applying hot iron  on the painting which has been enclosed between newspaper bottom and above it. The realised painting quality, will depend  highly on the quality of material used and the ability of the artist.
In Kilimanjaro region we have several Chagga batik artist. Kerita and Sam Kashinde are amongst the prominent ones. They also conduct batik art classes for beginners.
You are most welcome to Sanaa Zetu for your batik art paintings.Customer satisfaction is our motto.

Maasai Couple
Fine Batik

  

The market
Abstract Batik

Banana plant as a raw material source for Chagga artists and craftsmen plus other uses

The Chagga people, live in the slopes of mount Kilimanjaro. In those days in every homestead they grew a variety of Banana plants on their farm, namely Mshare,Matoke,Kimalindi,Nyelele,Kipungara,Kisukari,Mkojozi, Msusu, Ngombe and Kitarasa.Some of the Banana varieties, they used for cooking Chagga dishes, such as, Machalari, Mtori, Shiro, Ngande, Kitawa, Kitalolo, roasted or fried green bananas commonly used at breakfast instead of bread and Kiumbo.It should be noted by then Bananas was the staple food of the Wachagga. But with intermarriages it is no longer the case,maize took over as staple food.And rice was regarded as a special food and it was cooked only on Sundays or on special occasions. On the other varieties, some are used as raw material for preparing Chagga local brew Mbege and in recent years Banana wine. And others when ripe as fruits. After banana harvest, the left over of the plant is used as food for cattle, goats and sheep. The leaves of the plant which have dried off is used as bedding material in the cattle barn, so as to keep the herd dry and warm especially during cold season. The cow dung with the used beddings is then spread on the banana farm as manure.     

Above we can see a person holding a banana bunch.On the ground we can see dry banana leaf this material is mostly used for beddings in cattle barns. And on the banana stem we can see its outer core which has dried off. Artists,crafts people and builders use it as raw material. The artist carefully peel off the fibre from the stem s dry outer core. The extracted fibre has a combination of colours, ranging from Black to white, with exceptions of Red, Green, Blue and Purple. The artist and craftsmen use the fibre to make a wide range of products, namely decorative (Portraits and wall hangings) , utility (rope,cooking pot support-ngata, table mats,lampsheds, storage baskets, picture frames etc) and personal use(jewelry,bookmarks,Purses, hand bags etc) .

Below we can see some decorative products.

 

And here are some of the utility products.

 

For ladies personal use we have earrings here below. Craftsmen also make hand purse and shoulder bags.

Flamingos
 Banana Fibre fabrics combination

Maasai women
 Banana Fibre fabrics combination

Maasai women fetching water
 Banana Fibre fabrics combination

The other use of the banana fibre material is as roofing material for thatching the roof of Chagga house. This type of material was commonly used by Wachagga of Machame.
You are most welcome to Sanaa Zetu for your Banana fibre made products and other varieties. Customer satisfaction is our motto.

Carving tools frequently used by Makonde hard wood (Ebony) carvers.

The Makonde carvers use most of the widely used common carving tools, such as the flat,u-shape, v-shape chisels and knive.

An axe for felling the ebony tree:


 and wood hand saw for preparing the work pieces:


In Tanzania to cut down ebony tree is government control, you can not freely cut the tree, one has to have a permit and license to do so. Now coming back to our topic, the carvers frequently use the following tools: Makonde Chopping axe (tezo) for preparing the initial shape of the carving:


Hand file (Kurubula) for finishing work, on the carving:


Below we can see hand file application on finishing process of Giraffe by Mzee Kibange of Majengo Makonde carvers, Moshi, Kilimanjaro:

Makonde Wood scraper (Mkwango) for detailed finishing such as on the eye:

Makonde Wood scraper (Pondola) for finishing work:


Makonde Carving knife ( chipula):



Makonde Mallet ( Kiwenguwengu) it is used as a hammer whilst chiseling out the work piece:






In the past a carving was doned entirely by one carver and they used to sign engrave their names on the bottom stand of the carving or sometimes at the bottom end of the carving. Now with commercialization we have specialization. Some carvers do the initial rough piece of the carving, followed by those who specialised on detailed work and lastly by finishing experts. And that is why now you can rarely find a carving signed as it formerly was.