Best Place To Buy Art And Crafts In Kampala.
Practical items such as toothpaste, soap and batteries should be easy to find across the country and these are well displayed in supermarkets and in many towns, though tourists are advised to bring any more unusual items which they may need foristance medication from home. There are markets and stores that focus on a wide variety of Art crafts and souvenirs where you can buy and remind yourself during your stay in the pearl of Africa. When purchasing these arts and crafts you will impact the lives of those who created it and their families and the person you purchased from. Handmade drums of various sizes, weapons such as spears can be taken apart into a suitcase and curved items using bark cloth and banana leaves.
Someone can readily tell the items from Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo – most visitors however will not – at the end of the day you are taking home a piece of Africa as a souvenir or gift for someone as a reminder of your visit to Uganda.
Arts and crafts do exist in Kampala and these include exposure Africa, Uganda art and craft village, Friday craft market and Nommo gallery among others. At exposure Africa which is the craft market next to Daisy’s Arcade in Kampala along Buganda Road stands as the biggest with over 30 stalls and with almost every item found here is shipped from Kenya and many Ugandan sellers always want to know about that. There are many stalls that are filled with tourists which include handmade items from Uganda, Rwanda and even Congo and you can find a big range of handcrafts from wood carvings to leather items from Ugandan shirts and dresses, nicely carved with chairs and tables.
There is a Friday craft market in Nsambya on Ggaba Road where one can practice bargaining skills with the artists and creators of the products and every Friday, there is another option for buying crafts carvings and African style shoes plus sandals which are made locally and even Kenyan items such as soapstone chess sets and many other items. The prices seem to be a bit lower and here they are compared to those of other markets and banana boat which has three exciting shops in Kampala which are easy to find and less than 10 minutes apart from one another and each shop is different and if you are looking for tribal art, the banana boat shop in Kisementi has the biggest selection. They all have smart local items such as better batiks and jewellery, carvings and metal plus stuff from Uganda and several African countries.
There are many other shops which are found in better shopping malls which include Garden city Mall along Yusuf Lule road, Shoprite Lugogo on Jinja road and kisementi along Kisementi on cooper road. There are fair trade shows around the world and also run a local crafts store where
Many visitors to Uganda go for a variety of Ugandan, Congolese and Kenyan art and craft pieces. One of the good things is that when you purchase an item you will be supporting the underprivileged such as the widows who are living with HIV, single mothers and those with minimal education as well as people with physical disability.
Read More