Elias Jengo (Tanzanian, born 1936)
Wajasiriamali (Entrepreneurs), 2009
Signed ‘EJengo 09’ (lower left)
Mixed media on canvas
90 x 122.5 cm
Ksh 88,000 – 200,000
(US$) 800 – 1,800
Provenance: Secondary market
Sold Ksh 146,750
Painter and scholar, Professor Elias Jengo is one of Tanzania’s most influential, well respected artists from the post-Independence era. He trained as an arts educator at Makerere University, Kampala and Kent State University in Ohio before completing his postgraduate studies at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), in Montreal. Jengo taught in the department of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Dar es Salaam for many years where he shaped a generation of young artists.
Since the 1960s Jengo’s paintings have regularly featured in exhibitions internationally. His works and commissions can be seen in public institutions and spaces across Tanzania. From 2004–05 Jengo was a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at Kent State University at Stark, Ohio. He continues to support young Tanzanian artists as a Trustee of the Nafasi Art Space in Dar es Salaam which provides studios and training for visual artists.