David Attar

Attarmurals is the art practice of Attar, an artist based in Arusha, Tanzania, who paints the tension between what we feel and what we think. His canvases move between the cosmic and the intimate: swirling galaxies in collision, and human faces cut open to reveal the heart and mind beneath. Whatever the scale, his work looks for the moment where order and chaos meet and something honest comes through.

Trained in geography and environmental studies, Attar has long been drawn to how forces shape the world around us, from landscapes and climate to the people who live within them. That perspective carries into his painting. Raw gestural splatter sits beside precise, deliberate figuration, and bold, saturated colour does the emotional work. Reds, golds, deep blacks and vivid yellows pull the viewer in before the story has time to settle.

His practice reaches well beyond the studio. Attar has shown a black and white exhibition at Alliance Française Arusha and has exhibited on Morocco Street in Dar es Salaam. He also painted street murals in Samunge Market as part of an Arts in Medicine fellowship focused on mental health awareness. He leads paint and sip workshops in Arusha and Dar es Salaam, takes part in Arusha’s monthly artisan mark...

BA Geography & Environmental Studies (Hons.)

Rock on Loko, Dar es salaam 2020
Black N White Group exhibition, Alliance Francaise Arusha 2025