The markets, the best stores
In the course of the Ivorian journey, this will move from the roadside itinerant market to the established urban market. Each one, depending on the products on offer, marks a change of region, customs, eating habits and culinary practices. Food products are most often sold by women, while the craft trade is the preserve of men. The Man region is famous for basketry, especially in the villages (mats, conical baskets, dance accessories). Abidjan's largest market, Adjamé, literally abounds in everything you can imagine finding.
Sculptures, masks and wooden objects
Among the inescapable Ivorian souvenirs: settlers, masks, statuettes and wooden or bronze sculptures of different cultures, ethnic groups and regions of the country (elephants, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, hornbills, sculptures of women and men, old wise men, etc.).), awalés and djembes, painted canvases, batiks, Korhogo canvases, clothes, and antiques such as command sticks, royal chairs, dogon doors, senoufo funeral beds or lobi ladders (non-exhaustive list of course), ashanti dolls, african combs. Sculptures are made by various craftsmen grouped in cooperatives in several places in the city and for some of them may sometimes come from the interior of the country or other African countries. In the workshops galleries, one finds mainly dan, gué and wéré masks, but also some senoufo pieces, baoulé chairs or even Nigerian handicrafts. Numerous pieces carved in kola tree bark, horn or warthog teeth (pipes, command sticks, jewellery, statuettes and figurines...).
Antiques
The "serious" handicrafts include pieces from the Dan and Yacouba ethnic groups (in the west of the country), as well as those from the Sénoufo and Baoulé countries. Best addresses to go hunting: the CAVA, the art market of Cocody, some of the stalls of the market of Treichville (upstairs), and the gallery Dompry au Plateau, considered by some purists as the only real antique dealer in Abidjan. The prices are in line with the prices, but at least you are sure not to be pigeonholed.
On the whole, you will not find any handmade piece more than fifty or sixty years old, most of the valuable antiques having joined the museum collections, sold to Western art galleries or simply "raided" by private collectors. Of course, the pieces that you will be sold will always be "authentic", however, it is better to be wary and not be in a hurry when you make your purchase, nor want to close the deal in five minutes, the artificial aging of objects is a specialty extremely well mastered by African artisans in general, and Ivorian in particular.
Good to know: If you have bought precious wood handicrafts or antiques, make sure you have declared them to the Museum of Civilizations of the Plateau before leaving the Ivorian territory, so that you can be issued an authorization to leave the territory. This is 2,000 FCFA for the print + 500 FCFA per object, and will save you from disappointment during boarding formalities, such as being charged.
The Akan goldsmith's trade
One only has to look at the ceremonial dress of the Akan chiefs and kings to get an idea of the importance attached to gold within this ethnic group. As a strong symbol of the prosperity of their kingdoms and their cultural domination (it was notably thanks to their skilful exploitation of gold that the Ashanti from Ghana imposed themselves on the Ivorian coast and became the privileged interlocutors of Western navigators), gold is declined in all its forms and aspects. Royal and/or noble attributes (spectacles, sandals, seats, royal jewellery, etc.), powder preserved in dedicated boxes and, among the most emblematic objects of Akan culture, baoule weights (which were moreover used to weigh gold powder), a perfect symbiosis of aesthetics and utility melted according to the ancestral technique of lost wax. These small weights, which are now found almost everywhere in markets, galleries and museums, but also incorporated in various jewellery, clothing and contemporary handicrafts, generally represent animals or abstract forms with geometric patterns evoking Ghanaian adinkras. Their heritage value is such that even today, some large Akan families still keep them preciously in chests and gourds from which they only take them out for special occasions, such as the yam festival, which gives rise to a profusion of ostentation (sometimes fictitious...) on the subject.
Clothing, jewelry and fashion accessories
Abidjan is gradually returning to its vocation as the capital of fashion and quality craftsmanship. For some time now, we have seen the emergence of a network of designers offering a beautiful range of beautifully made and modern products. In parallel, many concept stores such as Ettyka, Nota Bene Créations, Espace Créateurs N'Zassa, Cocody Factory or Le Comptoir des artisans, real showcases of local and West African creativity, are also flourishing.
In the markets and craft centres, you will also find many batiks in shimmering colours, most of them representing emblematic animals or scenes from everyday life. You can also treat yourself to a wax, a ready-to-wear set or a loincloth bag from Woodin (affordable) or Vlisco (much less). As for jewellery, ornaments and accessories, the local offer includes baoulé weights or small figurative pendants representing a dollar, a pineapple, an Agadez cross, a cauri, a baoulé fertility doll or a palm tree. Finally, if you go as far north as you can, you will find ornaments made of baked clay beads and hand-painted with natural pigments, such as those from the village of Kapélé, near Korhogo.
Traditional senoufo and baoulé weaves
As far as weaving is concerned, while it is true that it is the Sudanese, and particularly the Dioula traders, who established important weaving and dyeing centres in the trading cities of Bondoukou and Kong between the 16th and 18th centuries, it must be acknowledged that it was undeniably the Baoule and Senoufos who were the most important in this field. The use of weaving is above all linked to adornment and/or costume, whether for work, ceremonial or dance purposes. Woven fabrics are generally more expensive than imported industrial cottons because they represent a form of refinement. Despite this, they are still highly prized in some regions, particularly in Muslim areas, where traditional costume and comfort of dress are particularly important. All these fabrics also have the value of gifts, exchanged by families on the occasion of engagements, weddings or funerals, where a large number of woven loincloths are displayed, showing, according to their workmanship and variety, the different degrees of wealth and social elevation of the various groups involved. For example, on the occasion of noble funerals among the Senoufos, the number of white loincloths used as shrouds can reach fifty and, generally speaking, accumulated over the generations, the most beautiful ones will constitute a family capital that will be transmitted hereditarily, especially among the old Baoulé families.
At the Centre
. Baule loincloths, which are very rare and just as shimmering and colourful, are related to the "kenté" fabrics of neighbouring Ghana. Logical, since these fabrics have been made for centuries by the Ashantis and were exported with the historical migration of the Baoulé to Côte d'Ivoire! This type of silk and cotton fabric composed of interlaced strips of cloth is unique and recognizable among a thousand. Each colour has a specific symbolism. Woven loincloths or kita loincloths (large checkerboard loincloths) from the same Ashanti tradition are also highly developed in the lagoons towards Grand-Bassam and used as adornment by kings, chiefs and notables.In the North.
Work clothes are characterized by a thick and irregular cotton weave, plain or striped with indigo. This is also used as a work support by the painters of Senoufo hangings. You will find some of the most beautiful examples in the village of Fakaha or the village of the two hundred weavers of Waraniéné. Finally, the dance costumes, as well as certain accessories such as headdresses or belts, are made from the typical fabrics of the region.In the West. One can appreciate the variety through the costumes of the different groups of dancers of the Dan people.
Handcrafted pottery
One can cite the pottery village of Tanou Sakassou near Bouaké. Nearly 300 potters live here from their handicrafts. They master the art of ceramics and black earthenware pottery inlaid with silica flakes. Kedjenou pots, canaries, chef's vases, jars, a variety of crockery, as well as more contemporary objects decorated with geometric motifs inspired by Baoulé beliefs and rites, zoomorphic or anthropomorphic, are displayed in the markets. They are distinguished by their delicacy and originality: neck with a woman's head, vase with handles in the shape of a curved character, gargoulettes with two spouts, lid decorated with birds assembled in a circle. Here, it is mostly women - gathered in a cooperative - who shape the design. There is a workshop and an exhibition hall enabling the potters to produce and sell an average of 200 works per week.
Another great city of pottery, Katiola, between Bouaké and Korhogo. The pottery of the women of the mangoro ethnic group, exhibited and sold in the town centre, near the market and in the Potters' House, is made up of vases, jars, flowerpots, soup tureens, jewellery boxes, ashtrays and other containers of various shapes and uses.
The dêgha village of Motiamo, near Bondoukou is also specialized in the art of pottery. They can be found especially on the big market of Bondoukou which takes place every Sunday in the district of Djiminisso. Motiamo's pottery is made from black clay collected at the source of the Tanguin River in the nearby village of Willekehi, which the women artisans mix with red clay to obtain a more consistent material in which will be shaped pots, jars, canaries, bowls and decorative objects borrowing various animal forms.
