Michael Foreman’s reissued picturebook classic The General and new animated African TV show Tinga Tinga Tales.
The quick review:
Tinga Tinga Tales is a new TV series on Cbeebies, combining genuine Tanzanian art with traditional African folk tales. Beautiful and inspired.
First published at the height of the Cold War, The General is a 50th anniversary edition of a Michael Foreman classic. General Jodhpur falls off his horse and discovers a beautiful meadow. Flower power triumphs and he decides to give peace a chance. Lush illustrations with 1960’s idealism. Age 4+.
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Tinga Tinga is the brand of Tanzania, E.S.Tingatinga was born here and his family is painting Tinga Tinga every day. As the Tinga Tinga painters from Tanzania see it, they have exploited. And the lawyers agree, I quote just one from Norway: Worst case – Part of a Tanzanian cultural heritage is sold out of the country! The African painters have been developing the Tinga Tinga brand for 40 years. Until now they have sold different products under the name Tinga Tinga. But now they can´t use the brand. They can´t even publish a book with their own stories and call it Tinga Tinga! No one would dare to trademark “Walt Disney Tales”, use the Mickey Mouse in it and then air it around the world. But with the African brands and designs everything is possible. I am the manager at Tingatinga Cooperative. More info you get on http://www.tingatinga.org or http://www.tinga-tinga.com.
The term “Tinga Tinga” was not a Tanzanian brand at any time. The assertion is wrong. The name “Tinga Tinga” never has played a role also in the international art-scene and no artist sold his works under this term. The only correct name is the term Tingatinga (art, paintings etc.) which is a tribute to the founder of this East African art trend named Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga who died 1972. Currently only the word combination “Tinga Tinga Tales” is a registered trademark in some countries and belongs to the company Tiger Aspect Production from UK. The background of this is of interest. Some just stupid and greedy people of the Tingatinga Arts Cooperative Society (TACS) in Dar es Salaam/Tanzania sold to this company the usufruct of the words “Tinga Tinga”. That therefore is remarkable because the TACS neither was and is the owner of the right of this term and also only a few Tingatinga artists are represented by the TACS. But exactly this organization, that arranged a bad contract without consultation of experts, now spreads the fairy-tale of the “sale of Tanzanian cultural heritage”. What is the truth? No East African artist will get any problems to use the correct and long time introduced term “Tingatinga” for his art style, for paintings, for books etc. No artist should use “Tinga Tinga”. It harms himself and creates confusion. The TACS finally should stop to complain the term “Tinga Tinga” for itself. No artist should hope that the TV series “Tinga Tinga Tales” causes positive for the Tingatinga art. This TV production and the entire merchandising around happens on a market, on which African art-styles and artists don’t have anything to win. It is nonsense to suggest African artists can find “honey and money” in the childish “Disney World” which is made believe us by unscrupulous businessmen. But it would not be surprising, if in one or two years the whole hype about “Tinga Tinga Tales” is past.