Tawlid means 'generation' in Arabic, which is the most common language spoken in Africa. Family is very important throughout Africa. Families, not individuals, are the building blocks of African society. Most people live in households that include not only the nuclear family (mother, father, children) but also members of their extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and others).
The Lozi people have lived with the rise and fall of the Zambezi River for centuries, seeing their villages become waterlogged, then gradually submerged. It's believed they migrated to these flood plains from the Congo basin in the 17th century. Now they must move annually, at the whim of the Zambezi River, and wait for the king's signal to move to drier land. Once the king gives his signal, the traditional ceremony called the "Kuomboka", which means, "to get out of the water" begins.
In the late 19th century, these people resisted a French colonial invasion of their African homelands and annihilated a French expedition, but eventually succumbed to the more advanced weapons of the French troops.
Tawlid means 'generation' in Arabic, which is the most common language spoken in Africa. Family is very important throughout Africa. Families, not individuals, are the building blocks of African society. Most people live in households that include not only the nuclear family (mother, father, children) but also members of their extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and others).
About Kalenga
About Kalenga
Hassan Kalenga was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1970. Both of his parents are collectors of fine African art and own a number of masks, artworks, and artifacts from the continent. Having absorbed the beauty of these objects and formed a strong bond with them from childhood, his love of African culture grew tremendously. His interest in creating his own art was cultivated during his teenage years and, but didn’t develop until he was much older in life when he opted to become an art student. Now he specializes in creating African art, having developed his own visual and conceptual vocabulary that emerges through his work.
After completing his tutelage, Hassan delved even more into his artistic practice, depicting little-known African traditions, rituals, and customs that we may have never been exposed to previously, or perhaps taken for granted as commonplace. Thus, he uses his artwork as an aesthetic means of developing cultural literacy. Through these storied artworks, he hopes to reinvigorate interest in African art across the globe and bring it back to the forefront of artistic consciousness. Although his works are often He uses pastel chalks because it allows him to blend push-around color in a way that gives the story movement, emotion, and a voice.
Since that time, he has gone on to become an internationally known artist, having sold work via an Arthouse-NG auction in Nigeria and earning 3rd place at the Fifth Annual Global Art League for Emerging Artists in Montreal, Quebec. He's been selected as an exhibiting artist for the Toyko International Art Fair, the Shanghai International Art Fair, and the FIABCN | Fira Internacional d'Art de Barcelona.