Ali Kayaya is a Danish artist now living in Port Moresby.
Ali was born in Zanzibar in 1951, a descendent of the Manyema (flesh eater) people of the Congo Basin and Western Tanzania - a powerful war-like tribe and the target of Arab slave raiders in the 18th and 19th Centuries. In modern times the Manyema have made considerable contributions in fields such as music, soccer and politics.
As a teenage boy Ali lived through the annexation of Zanzibar by what was then known as Tanganyika and emigrated to Denmark in his late twenties.
It was while Ali lived in Mexico City in 2003 that he became inspired by the different Mexican artists and styles. He loved the bold, vibrant, rich and saturated colours. Ali studied short courses in art briefly in Mexico but is largely self-taught and works predominantly in acylic on canvas with brushes. He enjoys varying the textures and will also work in pastels.