The markets, the best stores
The journey through Côte d'Ivoire takes us from the itinerant roadside market to the established urban market. Each of these, depending on the products on offer, marks a change in region, customs, eating habits and culinary practices. Food products are most often sold by women, while handicrafts are the preserve of men. The Man region is renowned for its basketry, particularly in the villages (mats, conical baskets, dance accessories). Abidjan's largest market, Adjamé, is literally overflowing with everything you could imagine finding.
Sculptures, masks and wooden objects
Among the must-have Ivorian souvenirs: settlers, masks, statuettes and sculptures in wood or bronze from the country's different cultures, ethnic groups and regions (elephants, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, hornbills, sculptures of women and men, old sages, etc.), awalés and djembes, painted canvases, batiks, Korhogo canvases, clothes, and antiques such as command sticks, royal chairs, doors and windows.), awales and djembes, painted canvas, batiks, Korhogo cloth, clothing, and antiques such as command sticks, royal chairs, Dogon doors, Senufo funeral beds or Lobi ladders (a non-exhaustive list, of course), Ashanti dolls, African combs. The sculptures are made by various craftsmen grouped together in cooperatives in different parts of the city, some of whom may come from the interior of the country or from other African countries. In the workshops and galleries, you'll find mainly dan, gué and wéré masks, but also a few sénoufo pieces, baoulé chairs and Nigerian handicrafts. Numerous pieces carved from kolatier bark, horn or warthog teeth (pipes, command sticks, jewelry, statuettes and figurines...).
Antiques
Serious" handicrafts include pieces from the Dan and Yacouba ethnic groups (in the west of the country), as well as from the Sénoufo and Baoulé countries. The best places to go bargain hunting: CAVA, the Cocody art market, some of the stalls at the Treichville market (upstairs), and the Dompry gallery on the Plateau, considered by some purists to be Abidjan's only genuine antique dealer. Prices are accordingly high, but at least you can be sure you won't be taken for a ride.
On the whole, you won't find any handcrafted pieces over fifty or sixty years old, as most of the high-value antiques have gone into museums, been sold to Western art galleries or simply "raided" by private collectors. Of course, the pieces sold to you will always be "authentic", but it's best to be wary and not be in a hurry when you go to make your purchase, nor want to complete the deal in five minutes, as the artificial ageing of objects is an extremely well-mastered speciality of African craftsmen in general, and Ivorians in particular.
Good to know: If you've bought any precious wood crafts or antiques, make sure you declare them to the Musée des Civilisations du Plateau before leaving Côte d'Ivoire, so that you can obtain an exit permit. This costs 2,000 FCFA for the form + 500 FCFA per object, and will save you the trouble of being charged when boarding.
The Akan goldsmith's trade
One only has to look at the ceremonial dress of Akan chiefs and kings to get an idea of the importance attached to gold within this ethnic group. A powerful symbol of the prosperity of their kingdoms and their cultural domination (it was thanks to their skilful exploitation of gold that the Ashantis from Ghana established themselves on the Ivorian coast and became the preferred interlocutors of Western navigators), gold comes in all shapes and forms. Royal attributes and/or those of the nobility (spectacles, sandals, seats, royal jewels, etc.), powder preserved in dedicated boxes and, among the most emblematic objects of Akan culture, Baoule weights (which were also used to weigh gold powder), a perfect symbiosis of the aesthetic and the utilitarian, cast using the ancestral lost-wax technique. Nowadays, these small scales can be found everywhere in markets, galleries and museums, as well as incorporated into jewelry, clothing and contemporary handicrafts. They generally depict animals or abstract forms with geometric motifs reminiscent of Ghanaian adinkras. Their heritage value is such that even today, some of the great Akan families keep them preciously in chests and gourds, from which they only take them out on special occasions, such as the yam festival, which gives rise to a profusion of ostentation (sometimes fake...) in this area.
Clothing, jewelry and fashion accessories
Abidjan is gradually returning to its role as the capital of fashion and quality craftsmanship. For some time now, we've seen the emergence of a network of designers offering a fine range of beautifully crafted, modern products. A number of concept stores are also flourishing, such as Ettyka, Nota Bene Créations, Espace Créateurs N'Zassa, Cocody Factory and Le Comptoir des artisans, showcasing local and West African creativity.
In markets and craft centers, you'll also find many colorful batiks, mostly depicting emblematic animals or scenes from daily life. You can also treat yourself to a wax, a ready-to-wear outfit or a loincloth bag from Woodin (affordable) or Vlisco (much less so). When it comes to jewelry, ornaments and accessories, the local offer includes Baoulé weights or small figurative pendants representing a dollar, a pineapple, an Agadez cross, a cowrie shell, a Baoulé fertility doll or a palm tree. Finally, if you go as far north as the village of Kapélé, near Korhogo, you'll find hand-painted, baked clay bead ornaments using natural pigments.
Traditional senoufo and baoulé weaves
As far as weaving is concerned, while it's true that it was the Soudanese, and particularly the Dioula merchants, who established major weaving and dyeing centers in the trading towns of Bondoukou and Kong between the 16th and 18th centuries, it's undeniably the Baoulés and Sénoufos who dominate this field. The use of weaving is above all linked to adornment and/or costume, whether for work, ceremony or dance. Woven fabrics are generally more expensive than imported industrial cottons, as they represent a form of refinement. In spite of this, they remain highly prized in certain regions, particularly those with a predominantly Muslim population, where traditional dress and comfort are particularly important. All these fabrics are also gifts, exchanged by families on the occasion of engagements, weddings or funerals, where a large number of woven loincloths can be seen, attesting, according to their workmanship and variety, to the different degrees of wealth and social elevation of the various groups involved. For example, at noble Senoufos funerals, the number of white loincloths used as shrouds can reach fifty or so. Generally speaking, the finest ones, accumulated over generations, constitute a family capital that is passed down through the generations, particularly among the old Baule families.
Central region. Baoulé loincloths, very rare but just as shimmering and colorful, are related to "kenté" fabrics from neighboring Ghana. Logical, since these fabrics, made for centuries by the Ashantis, were exported with the historic migration of the Baoulé to Côte d'Ivoire! This type of silk and cotton fabric, made up of interwoven strips, is unique and instantly recognizable. Each color has a specific symbolism. Woven loincloths or kita loincloths (large, checkerboard patterned loincloths) stemming from the same Ashanti tradition are also highly developed among the lagoon dwellers around Grand-Bassam and used as finery by kings, chiefs and notables.
In the North. Work clothes are characterized by a thick, irregular cotton weave, plain or striped with indigo. This was also used by the painters of Senufo hangings. Some of the finest examples can be found in the village of Fakaha or the village of the two hundred weavers of Waraniéné. Last but not least, dance costumes and accessories such as headdresses and belts are made from fabrics typical of the region.
In the West. The variety of dance styles can be appreciated in the costumes of the various groups of Dan dancers.
Handcrafted pottery
One example is the pottery village of Tanou Sakassou near Bouaké. Nearly 300 potters make their living here. They master the art of ceramics and black earthenware encrusted with silica flakes. Kédjénou 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 sold in the markets. They are distinguished by their finesse and originality: a neck with a woman's head, a vase with handles in the shape of a curved figure, gargoyles with two spouts, a lid adorned with birds assembled in a circle. Most of the work here is done by women - who have formed a cooperative. A workshop and exhibition hall enable potters to produce and sell an average of 200 pieces per week.
Another major pottery town is Katiola, between Bouaké and Korhogo. The pottery of the women of the Mangoro ethnic group, exhibited and sold in the town center, near the market and in the Maison des potières, comes in vases, jars, flower pots, soup tureens, jewelry boxes, ashtrays and other containers of various shapes and uses.
The Dêgha village of Motiamo, near Bondoukou, also specializes in the art of pottery. They are mainly sold at the Bondoukou market, which takes place every Sunday in the Djiminisso district. Motiamo pottery is made from black clay collected from the source of the Tanguin river in the nearby village of Willekehi, which the women mix with red clay to obtain a more consistent material from which to model pots, jars, canaries, bowls and decorative objects in a variety of animal forms.
Wax, emblematic of African clothing
Contrary to common belief, the wax-printed loincloth known as "wax" is not a fabric of African origin, but a foreign fabric, an amalgam of Indonesian and Dutch technical traditions, which has "taken" so well on the continent that it has ended up colonizing people's minds and becoming a claimed symbol of Africa. It was in Ghana, a stopover on the route to India, that the epic story of the loincloth began. In the second half of the 19th century, the first Dutch-made wax ("Marianne") was introduced to Côte d'Ivoire, and in 1934, the industrialist Van Vlissingen (who gave his name to the Vlisco company) observed with satisfaction that most Bassamois wore fabrics produced in his factory. It's a curious fate for the loincloth, emblematic of African culture yet conceived in Europe, where designers, isolated in their workshops, project their fantasies of a faraway land onto fabrics destined for export to Africa. Whether graphic, rhythmic, descriptive, floral or ethnic, these motifs borrow their particularities from textiles as varied as Korhogo cloth, bogolan, raffia or Akan weavings. Although Côte d'Ivoire boasts several production units (including the famous Uniwax factory), Dutch loincloths still enjoy unrivalled prestige, which is reflected above all in their price, as demonstrated by the example of Vlisco wax-print, the most expensive and most highly-rated on the market. We owe this phenomenon to the semi-wholesalers, the famous Nana Benz. True trendsetters, they were the first to see the fabric as it left the factory, and the only ones capable of recognizing a successful loincloth. The loincloths thus named became "classics", marking their time with varying degrees of success, depending on whether or not they lasted, in the same way as a timeless hit or a summer ditty. A truly successful classic becomes a "champion" loincloth, an indispensable attribute in the wardrobe of any self-respecting elegant woman. The classic will come in different colors depending on the region of the country where it's sold: more ochre tones for the North, and more colorful as you go south. The names given to loincloths are also an excellent indicator of the social phenomena of the moment. Everything from TV series ("Dallas") to "urban" loincloths ("Yamoussoukro goudron", "Abidjan c'est technique"). Best-sellers include loincloths worn by rebellious women ("Ton pied mon pied", "Si tu sors je sors"), those worn by deceived wives ("œil de ma rivale", a handy way of getting the message across to unfaithful husbands) and, last but not least, loincloths designed to represent social status ("Mari capable" proudly displays a spouse's financial affluence; "Poisson à la braise" reveals an affluent lifestyle with repeated outings to the maquis).However, it's not just the patterns that attest to the quality of the loincloth and the status of the wearer, and it comes in several categories whose textile and aesthetic qualities are in themselves a sign of social differentiation: Dutch wax, English wax, Ivorian wax, java wax, fancy wax, soso wax, and so on, dutch wax remains the must-have, demonstrating the wearer's degree of respectability and financial affluence. Fancy, for example, printed on one side only using less complex technical processes than wax, offers a lower-quality fabric and its colors will fade fairly quickly. Traditionally used for village work, it has long been considered a poor man's loincloth. As prestige also depended on the patterns and cuts in which the fabrics were assembled, small fancy became large, upgraded by a skilled tailor who transformed it into a maxi, a purely urban creation consisting of a top, a long skirt and a third piece of fabric, usually tied around the buttocks or tied into a handkerchief.
