An important part of the life of the disparate tribal cultures inTanzania is art and music. Visitors the southern Tanzania will find examples of abstract ebony carvings and masks of the Makonde tribe while the streets of historic Stone Town on Zanzibar Island are renowned for their Arab-influenced elaborately carved wooden doors. Elsewhere markets across the country will sell handwoven fabric khanga and kitenge as well as Maasai beadwork among a host of traditional handicrafts. More modern art movements such as the Tinga Tinga paintings with their brilliant colours and stylised Tanzanian scenes are now world renowned while cultural centres such as Nafasi Arts Space in
Dar es Salaam and the Bagamoyo Arts and Cultural Institute are bringing through a newgeneration of talent.
The country´s bustling commercial capital Dar es Salaam has an especially vibrant cultural scene. It has given birth to two unique modern musical movements in Bongo Flava – a Tanzanian take on hip-hop – and the hyper-speed electronical of Singeli. Both voice a new generation of Tanzania – the country has one of the youngest populations on earth with over half of its 55 million population under 25 – yet draw on elements of traditional music such as taarab, which can still be heard along the Swahili Coast and is being actively preserved through organisations such as the Dhow Countries Music Academy in Stone Town, Zanzibar.
Tanzania tourism has sought to support rather than intrude on traditional ways of life and have a similarly light footprint when it comes to the environment. It´s a move ecotourists will welcome and they will find plenty of protected land and marine reserves and even entire island, such as Chumbe Island Coral Park, aiming at zero impact on the environment.