Portrait of Francis Ntotani, a Makonde Wood Carving Artist
 Francis Ntotani belongs to the Makonde Tribe and was born in Mosambique in 1939.
He only visited a missionary school for a short time before his father died and Francis left home at the age of 15 to go with a friend to Dar Es Salam. In Tanzania, where many members of the Makonde Tribe live, he learned the art of Makonde Carving. During this time, the early sixties, Makonde wood carvings became world famous and therefore more and more commercial art. Traditional wood carvings were mainly gifts or spiritual items full of ugly “djinns” and “shetanis”, best described as evil ghosts or Cobolts. Not seldom characteristics of living humans of the closer social surrounding were included. This intertwinement finds it’s peak in so called “environments”, where up to hundreds of characters are brought into connection.
The booming tourism during the 80’s in Kenya promised higher sales, hence many Makonde Carvers moved to Kenya’s Coast, including Francis.
Consequently, high quality wood like “Mpingo” (Ebony – of which more than 300 types exist) became rare. Also “Mpera Mvitu” (African Rosewood) soon became rare around Mombasa. From then on mainly “Muhugu”, a light Mahogany wood, was used and it was often dyed.
Francis, today a dainty old man, had more and more difficulty working the brittle and hard Ebony wood and therefore prefers the slightly softer Mahogany which, after polishing, shows a beautifully structured surface.
The depicted people and demons stand in a more or less intended relation to each other which the artist always enjoys to interpret in a very humorous way. Often the structure of the wood forces the artist to adapt proportions and faces. These challenges are often processed and interpreted with the typically African black humour.
His illustrations are always full of laughter and he observes spectators with great curiosity to see if he/she finds the hidden gimmicks.
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