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Art Crafts Souvenirs

Are busy looking for basic African fabric to take back home as you gift from visiting Rwanda to your family, friends and to display in your office or home, a visit to one of these places is worth your take away.

 

COOTRAC

COOTRAC (Cooperative for Trade and Promotion of Rwandan Arts, Crafts & Culture) is an association of 22 stalls selling handicrafts from Rwanda and the greater region. Located in Kigali Rwanda, along Ave de la Paix Contract can be found in this old warehouse almost right in the centre of the city. This is my favorite place for banging out some cheap souvenir buys in a short amount of time and with zero hassle. The items you’ll find here aren’t all that unique but the appeal is that they’re all corralled in one place and the prices they charge are fair from the start.

I’ll only bother to wrangle over the price if I’m buying a lot of items from one vendor which usually means they’ll be up for a little bit of negotiation. Your bargaining power will set the price for the product ; it is quite an amazing experience, as you will run out of luck of choice. Everything seems beautiful, but you cannot puck it all. Inquire with us to book a day tour so as to take a visit to this amazing unique place or let us know to include it on your tour package.

CAPLAKI

What happens when a number of artists and sellers form a cooperative and build colorful wooden huts” The answer is Caplaki, an association offering a surprising variety of local handicrafts for every taste and budget. This is Kigali’s largest souvenir-specific market and they’ve got tonnes of items spread across dozens of individual stalls.
From traditional masks and musical instruments to lovely paintings and jewelry, there is no doubt that this small village within the city is one of the best places to stroll around and get some souvenirs for your loved ones.
The most amazing experience here is the bargaining part of it. Since it is a stopover for most tourists, they always set their prices so high, and it’s up now to you to play and run the figures down, it is amazing, as you smile both trying to come to a common price. However, the prices are not as high as you may think, because these products are away cheaper compared to Europe. These products are so much stunning that you may wish to shop everything. Get yourself some African fabric for a great safari in Rwanda.

Azizi Life Boutique

Every destination has always got something unique to offer to its population. Here comes a crazy place to shoot all your African finest crafts. Here you can get the chance to meet the real arcticians themselves and order something you might need of your choice, after your safari, you find it ready as you agreed. 
Azizi Life’s flagship social enterprise is focused on maximizing economic opportunity for rural artisans through the development and promotion of crafts.

Environment is put into use, watch banana fibers turned into beautiful baskets.Their line of baskets highlights some of the best of Rwandan traditional and modern design. Quite a number of lessons can be taken here as well on your visit, depending on an early arrangement. Some of the lessons include candle making, bee hive making, basket weaving lessons, traditional juice making, traditional pottery experience, traditional cooking day experience, home stay experience and art craft lessons.

Azizi Life Experiences is a social enterprise offering visitors to Rwanda the unique opportunity to really connect and gain insight into the life of rural Rwandans and their families. Through a range of different cultural Experience Days, you get to not only see something of the beauty and rigor of daily life, but also experience it. It’s a truly interactive way to learn about Rwandan culture !
Inquire with our reservation team, to book yourself a tour to this amazing cultural place filled with great activities that may shoot your choice.

Inema Arts

The brothers founded Inema in 2012 in an effort to share their creative passion with Rwandans and visitors alike. Rwanda has very little art in schools and no professional or post-secondary art training. The visual arts aren’t yet a very valued thing in Rwandan society and Emma and Innocent are striving to provide exposure to the country’s creative community and to change this attitude, shedding light not only on the talents within the country, but also by using “creative expression to bring the community and country alive.”

Inema Arts makes a great stop both for paintings (both from their main gallery in Kacyiru or their smaller one at Heaven Restaurant) and for jewellery, ties, pottery, and other crafts from their small gift shop at their Kacyiru location. There are about a dozen resident artists at Inema and you’ll get a nice range of different styles to choose from.

Plus you can even pop back to see them at work in the studio behind the gallery. Would you wish to take an art lesson for a day, just join this crazy people with amazing artwork ? You can even meet then live, busy with their art pieces, doing a great job of wonders. Would you wish a design of your choice, they have answers to all your worries, and to make it perfect beyond your expectations.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for at Inema, be sure to pay a visit to Ivuka, Uburanga, Yego, or Niyo art galleries, the nawers are hidden within these great areas. Inema Dance helps to develop musical and artistic talent in over 40 kids from the Kacyiru area through a rigorous, positive and productive training program. The dancers perform all around Rwanda or you can pop into one of their training sessions on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday between 4:30 and 6:00 pm.

Inema provides space for 10 artists, each producing their own style of contemporary African art. They paint, they sculpt, the work with mixed medium, they dance ! Ok, maybe they don’t dance, but they’re pretty versatile and you just need to take a stroll around Inema’s grounds to get an idea of the kinds of creativity that is oozing out of these artists. That sounds kind of gross, but it’s not. It’s colourful and imaginative and inspiring. Inquire with our reservation team, to get yourself there, and get doing great art work, with some of the most amazing people around you. You can visit this place before or after your safari to spend some great time as you wait for your next day safari or flight.

Inzuki Designs

Inzuki is the best place in Kigali to come for chunky, colorful, bold jewelries. They have a style all their own and their showroom in town (the entrance is through a gate on the right, behind the building) is filled with their designs. Plus they have a good selection of accessories and creative things for your house, all Rwandan made, primarily for local materials. Inzuki is the creation of TetaIsibo who started the business in 2010 and has watched it grow from there. It’s a great place to come for something a little more unique than you’ll find in the regular tourist shops.

The way the jewelries are display, gives you a sense of love and passion for the job. So much amazing and romantic to see something from natural material in an African setting design. Quite a number of other materials such as craft shoes, clothing’s as well as pillows can be purchased from here.
Are you looking for a romantic, beautiful art piece of jewelries, just book a tour with our team, and we get you a round to this wonderful place that will leave you will great shopping life of jewelries to carry along with you after your wonderful gorilla safari in Rwanda.

Kimironko Market

Being a market of fresh food staffs, thus tomatoes, onions, carrots etc does not stop it from having Souvenirs as well. You can still get the African finest your logging for here. It is a bit crowded and noisy over here, but that is the environment of an African market, filled up with busy people, all logging around in search of their interest.

This does not mean you should not join the hustle. In case you do not want to deep yourself into the crowd, bookers are there to get you the art piece you may be looking for, but as well you can sneak and get yourself some art work of your choice. The prices are not fixed, you’re bargaining power sets, the price. For any tour request, get in touch with our sales team to get this included on your safari to Rwanda, as well explore the land of a 1000 hills together.

Nyamirambo Women’s Center

Splinted with a number of activities where you would derive joy from is found in this unique center. Owned by a group of 10 widows, who made up their minds and started out something to support themselves as a way too to ripe from tourism, has made this place not only an amazing place to visit, but very famous and unique. This small shop is known for making some unique items with kitenge fabric. They produce some pretty cool children’s items like dresses and pants in small sizes, kids hats, baby blankets, and even cute fabric balls to kick around.

If you’re shopping for kids, this should be your first stop. They also offer your usual bags and things like that but they seem to make them in different styles than you’ll find around town. Nyamirambo is my favourite area of Kigali and you can combine a stop here with one of their walking tours.

Are as well interested in the walking safari, where you visit the area on foot, go to the market and shop some food and spices and get yourself cooking local dish, which you turn into your day meal. The experience is only found here, with great amazing people around you. Let’s explore this area with you, get in touch with our reservation team to get this included in your tour and safari with us. at info@beyondkigalitours.com