Pare People

Location:North-Central Tanzania

Population: Unknown

Arts and History: The artworks of the Pare are almost completely undefined, though recently there have appeared on the market small statues tightly bound with cloth, resembling mummies, with the classic minimalist Tanzanian facial features. The area in which the Pare live, just south of Mt Kilimanjaro, is one of most spectacular areas on earth. In fact, one of the small mountain ranges in the region is named for the Pare. Despite this, the Pare are extremely small and heavily integrated with larger cultures like the Chaga and Shambala, so their arts, what there are of them, look much like those of their neighbors. The existence of the Pare in the Kilamanjaro area can be documented back at least 600 years, which is unusual in a country where many groups are fairly recent migrants. Many of the Pare live in the village of Chome. The land on which they live is extremely fertile and they make much of their living off of growing coffee and other crops. Income from tourists visiting this magificent area is also vital to their survival. The historical intermingling of Tanzanian cultures has made the identification of their artworks a daunting task, as the social rituals and carving styles vary little from region to region. This difficulty in attribution does not, however, diminish the haunting beauty of Tanzanian sculpture, and it's popularity continues to grow among serious collectors.