Tanzania. Masterworks of African Sculpture

Tanzania. Masterworks of African Sculpture (German: Tanzania. Meisterwerke afrikanischer Skulptur; Swahili: Sanaa za Mabingwa wa Kiafrika) was an art exhibition of traditional African sculptures originating from the mainland region of modern Tanzania. The exhibition was shown in 1994 at the House of World Cultures in Berlin and the same year at the Lenbachhaus art museum in Munich, Germany. Under the same title, it was accompanied by a bilingual catalogue with numerous photographs, maps, illustrations and a bibliography as well as contributions by ethnologists, art historians and collectors, published in German and Swahili, the national language of Tanzania.

With more than 400 sculptures and masks from museums and private collections in Europe, the US, and Africa, the exhibition and extensive catalogue made an important contribution to the public appreciation of traditional wood carving from Tanzania. The featured sculptures and masks had been selected from private collections and, for the most part, from the depots of major ethnological museums in Germany. The diversity and origin of the sculptures allowed for a detailed comparative style analysis and art historical classification according to the country's various ethnic groups. Unlike earlier and more limited presentations of traditional art from Tanganyika, the exhibition and catalogue emphasized the exhibition's wide scope and artistic quality, countering the opinion of art critics that East African artworks were only few and of lower quality compared with the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.