Makonde Carving: The "Tree of Life" Sculptures of Tanzania and Mozambique

At first glance it looks like a twisted tree trunk of dark, polished wood. Look closer and the "branches" become people: dozens of human figures, climbing over and holding on to one another, faces peering out, arms supporting the bodies above them, all carved from a single piece of wood. This kind of sculpture is called ujamaa — "familyhood" — or the Tree of Life, and it is the best-known creation of the Makonde carvers of East Africa.

The Makonde people

The Makonde live on and around the Mueda Plateau, a highland region that straddles the border of southeastern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Traditionally farmers, they are known for a strong sense of independence — and for their carving.

Makonde society traces descent through the mother's line, and their origin story centres on a female ancestor. In one widely told version, the first Makonde man lived alone in the bush and carved a figure of a woman from wood. The figure came to life and became his wife, and their children became the Makonde people. Whether told this way or another, the story places carving at the very beginning of Makonde life.

Traditional carving

Long before carvings were made for sale, Makonde craftsmen produced:

• Masks for the mapiko dance, used in initiation ceremonies for young men. Mapiko masks were often helmet-shaped, carved from light wood, and decorated with real human hair and facial scarification patterns.
• Figures representing ancestors and spirits.
• Everyday objects — stools, combs, containers and utensils.

The blackwood revolution

In the mid-20th century, Makonde carving changed dramatically. Many Makonde men moved to towns, especially Dar es Salaam, for work, and some began carving for a new market of collectors and tourists. They turned increasingly to mpingo, or African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) — one of the hardest and densest woods in the world, so heavy it sinks in water. Its dark heartwood takes a high polish, and its contrasting pale sapwood is sometimes left visible.

From the 1950s and 1960s, carvers developed new styles:

• Ujamaa (Tree of Life) — columns of interlocking human figures rising from a single base, symbolising family, community and the generations. The name, from the Swahili word for "familyhood," was also the name of Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere's socialist philosophy. A carver known as Samaki is often credited with early examples of the style.
• Shetani — sculptures of spirit beings (from the Swahili word for devils or spirits), often grotesque, humorous or dreamlike, with exaggerated limbs, single eyes or twisted forms. Many shetani carvers came from the Mozambican side of the plateau.
• Binadamu — more realistic figures of people at work: elders, mothers with children, water carriers.

A Dar es Salaam dealer named Mohamed Peera played a major role in promoting these carvings internationally in the 1960s, and Makonde sculpture was soon exhibited in Europe and America as modern African art.

Carving today

Makonde carving remains a living art. In Dar es Salaam, carvers work in open-air workshops, chipping at blackwood logs with small adzes and chisels, then smoothing and polishing the finished piece. Some sculptures take weeks or months.

There are challenges. Mpingo grows slowly and has been heavily harvested, and its trade is now regulated internationally under CITES. Conservation projects in Tanzania and Mozambique work with communities to manage blackwood forests sustainably. Mass-produced souvenirs also compete with the work of master carvers.

Makonde carving and Tingatinga painting are often described together as Tanzania's two great modern art traditions, both born in the creative ferment of mid-century Dar es Salaam.

Why it matters

The Makonde Tree of Life is a powerful image: a whole community carved from one piece of wood, every figure supported by others and supporting someone in turn. It began in a small corner of East Africa and became one of the most recognisable African art forms in the world — a reminder that tradition and innovation can grow from the same root.

Further reading

• African Art Appraiser — Makonde Tree of Life (Ujamaa) sculpture
• Smithsonian Libraries — Modern African Art reading list: Makonde sculpture
• Jörn Korn, Modern Makonde Art (Hamlyn, 1974)