Born Tanzania
SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2004 "Tingatinga and Lilanga", Kouchi Prefecture Art Museum, Kouchi, Japan

2003 "Lilanga d'ici et d'ailleurs", Centre Culturel François Mitterrand, Périgueux, France
"George Lilanga", Christa's Fine Tribal Art Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2002 "Georges Linlanga", MAMCO, Geneva, Switzerland

1999 Georges Lilanga "Storie Africane", Franco Cancelliere Arte Contemporanea, Messina, Italy; Fabbrica Eos, Milano, Italy
"Lilanga's Artist in Residence and Workshop", Hiroshima City Moderne Art Museum, Japan
"Lilanga's Cosmos", Okariya Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2005 "Arts of Africa", Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, France
"African Art Now: Masterpieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection", Museum of Fine Art Houston, Houston, USA

2004 "Africa Remix, Art contemporain d’un continent" (travelling exhibition):
Jul - Nov 2004, Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany
Feb - Apr 2005, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
May - Aug 2005, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Feb - May 2006, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2003 "Latitudes", Hôtel de Ville, Paris, France

2002 "Mapico Dance", MAMCO, Geneva, Switzerland
Georges Lilanga, Galleria Spazia, Bologna - Italy

2000 Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China
"Il ritorno dei Maghi", Palazzo dei Sette, Orvieto, Italy

1999 "Casino di Malindi", Kenya
"Desposito 6", Verona, Italy

1998 "African Contemporary Art", Lenz Gallery of Art., Pregassona, Italy
"La Persia srl", Palazzo Carlotti, Verona, Italy

1996 "Dak'Art", Dakar 2nd Biennal, Senegal

1995 Johannesbourg 1st International Biennal, Johannesburg, South Africa

1994 "Haring and Lilanga"
"Animals and Spirits of Africa", Pantheon Tama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Mimoca Gallery, Marugane, Japan

1993 "La Grande Vérité, Les Astres Africains", Nantes Fine Art Museum, Nantes, France

1992 "Out of Africa", Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
"Tingatinga Art", Art Tower Mito, Tokyo, Japan

1987-1983 International Summer Academy, Salzburg, Austria

1983 National Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe

1981-1979 National Museum, Dar Es Salaam

1978 Marykoll Ossining Centre, New York, USA; IMF Hall, World Bank, Washington, USA

Born 1934, Kikwetu, Masasi District, Tanzania, George Lilanga comes from the high, arid plateaus of the Mozambique-Tanzania border. This is the great centre of Makonde culture, noted especially for its mapico initiation dances and rich sculptural traditions. Lilanga began his training as a sculptor in 1961. In 1972 he settled in Dar-es-Salaam; in 1973 he became associated with the newly founded Nyumba ya Sanaa (House of Arts), a gallery and cultural center established by local artists. In 1980 he encountered the works of the Tingatinga School (established by the followers of Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga, 1939-1972) and Tingatinga’s example of exuberantly patterned and playfully abstracted paintings had a profound effect on his work.

Lilanga’s art - animated by a keen sense of social critique and caricature - illustrates the continuity of artistic vision among the Makonde and its renewal in the context of the present day. In many ways his sculptures and paintings follow Makonde conventions. His playful figures are best understood as heirs to the Makonde shetani, the unruly spirits of Makonde cosmology. Similarly, the complexity of his paintings can be compared to the Makonde ujamaa (tree of life), which signifies unity and solidarity. At the same time, the vibrant inventiveness of Lilanga’s work also testifies to the profound revolution that marked the birth of individualization and personal talent in Africa.

The above is courtesy of Andre Magnin Contemporary African Art Collection