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Craft Techniques of Tanzania

The Depository documents 5 techniques in Tanzania; by risk level: 1 endangered, 3 vulnerable, 1 stable. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.

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Stone & Gemstone Carving

  • Makonde Ujamaa and Shetani Mpingo Ebony CarvingStone & Gemstone Carving · Vulnerable

    The carving of figurative sculpture from mpingo (African Blackwood), a dark brown to near-black hardwood native to East Africa's dry savanna, by the Makonde people of southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique, tracing to the 1930s, when…

  • Merelani Artisanal Tanzanite MiningStone & Gemstone Carving · Endangered

    The hand-digging, shaft-mining, and grading of tanzanite -- the violet-blue variety of the mineral zoisite -- by artisanal miners of Merelani, a narrow strip of land roughly seven by two kilometers in the Manyara Region of northern…

  • Zanzibar Stone Town Carved Door WoodcarvingStone & Gemstone Carving · Vulnerable

    The carving of elaborate wooden entrance doors by artisans of Stone Town, Zanzibar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose architecture fuses Swahili, Arab, Persian, Indian, and European influences.

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Dyeing & Surface Design

  • Kanga Swahili Proverb-Cloth Block PrintingDyeing & Surface Design · Stable

    The block-printing and hand-stamping of vivid, proverb-bearing cotton cloth by Swahili coast communities of Zanzibar, Mombasa, and the wider East African coast, structured around three fixed compositional elements: a pindo (decorative…

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Painting & Decorative Arts

  • Tingatinga Enamel PaintingPainting & Decorative Arts · Vulnerable

    The application of vivid, glossy bicycle and enamel paint onto board or canvas in bold, naive, narrative style, founded by Edward Saidi Tingatinga (who both worked and died at Muhimbili Hospital, Dar es Salaam) and originating as a…

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