Born in 1934 in Kikwetu, Masasi District, Tanzania.
Died in 2005 in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
George Lilanga was born in Masasi, on the high plateaus along the border between Mozambique and Tanzania. Beginning in 1961, Makonde sculptors introduced him to sculpture. He later moved with them to the Dar es Salaam region, where working conditions were more favorable. In 1973, Lilanga co-founded Nyumba ya Sanaa (The House of Arts) with other artists and developed his work in both sculpture and painting.
His art draws deeply on Makonde culture and is shaped by a magical worldview in which ancestors, spirits, and natural forces play a central role. His works appear as staged scenes of ancestral, mythological, or legendary narratives, performed by villagers and urban dwellers alike.
Although rooted in Makonde traditions, Lilanga’s sculptural and pictorial work reflects a profound shift: it signals the emergence of individual artistic expression in Africa. His brightly colored, polychrome works display a highly refined aesthetic sensibility while conveying sharp social critique and a strong sense of caricature.