Tinga Tinga is a painting style that originated in Tanzania and Kenya. It is named after its founder, Tanzanian painter Edward Tingatinga. 

In 1953, he traveled to Dar-es-Salaam for work and decided to try painting as it was easier than construction. He could not afford to purchase art supplies, so he began with scavenged materials, painting on discarded masonite using layers of bicycle enamel, household paint, and old paintbrushes. 

His colorful, crowded paintings depicted fantastic animals and birds, dancing tribespeople, and scenes of village life. Each is related to a legend or saying from Tingatinga's Makua tribal culture. Though the subjects are rural, the paintings are more urban art forms, evolved on the streets of Dar-es-Salaam and conceived not as a means of personal expression but as a method of earning money. With its cheerful subject matter, Tingatinga's art was designed to appeal to the romantic notions of African life held by tourists.

In 1972, amid a burgeoning artistic career, Edward Tingatinga was shot dead by police in a case of mistaken identity. His fellow artists and family members in Dar formed the Tinga Tinga Arts Cooperative Society in his name.

The paintings are called Naive or Folk Art and are often humorous, sarcastic, and caricatural.

The perfect gift for wooden jigsaw puzzlers and animal lovers , this traditional adult jigsaw puzzle can be done time and again. Our wooden jigsaw puzzle artists have included many animal shaped whimsy pieces that match the corresponding areas in the image, and we have integrated them in ways that will delight and surprise you as you put the wooden jigsaw together.