Across the vast Maasai plains, the deep call of the kudu horn weaves through time, uniting generations. It gathers elders for counsel, summons warriors for rites of passage, and signals joyous celebrations of love and kinship.
The African Teke mask originates from the upper Ogowe region in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon. Members of these regions wear Teke masks during the funerals of chiefs, weddings, or important meetings.
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.
Across the vast Maasai plains, the deep call of the kudu horn weaves through time, uniting generations. It gathers elders for counsel, summons warriors for rites of passage, and signals joyous celebrations of love and kinship.
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.