The South Ndebele peoples of Africa wear neck rings as part of their traditional dress and as a sign of wealth and status. Only married women are allowed to wear the rings, called 'dzilla'.
Zangbeto are the traditional voodoo guardians of the night among the Ogu (or Egun) people of Benin, Togo and Nigeria. The Zangbeto takes on a covering made from an intricate mass of tiny strands of hay, raffia or other threadlike materials, which are sometimes dyed in very colourful hues.
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.
The South Ndebele peoples of Africa wear neck rings as part of their traditional dress and as a sign of wealth and status. Only married women are allowed to wear the rings, called 'dzilla'.
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 considered to be paintings, he actually uses pastel chalk 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.