Fabrics and dyes
Traditional Guinean fabrics, of which the "Indigos" (deep blue) and the "Sacred Forests" (dark motifs on a brown background) are the best known and recognized, in fact refer to very specific colors and dyeing techniques applied to loincloths made on traditional looms. Little by little replaced by industrial cotton fabrics, they are still tirelessly woven by weavers, heirs of a long tradition. Nowadays, the majority of traditional fabrics are made by Fulani craftsmen from Fouta, on horizontal pedal looms. In this region, it is a caste profession, one is a weaver from father to son and each weaver owns his own loom. Usually gathered in groups, they set up their loom in open spaces big enough to unroll the threads they will weave. It is possible to see them working in some of the big cities of Fouta, Labé, Pita, Mali but also in Kindia, an opportunity to negotiate directly with them to buy one of their creations. Fabrics made of white cotton threads, but also increasingly of different colors, are sold in strips 50 cm wide and several meters long or in the form of loincloths made up of four strips sewn together. Generally, loincloths are sold in pairs or groups of three, either raw or dyed, most often in indigo blue. In Guinea Forestière, there is also artisanal production. In this region, it is mostly women who work on vertical, fixed looms without pedals. Unfortunately, such looms are disappearing, as the know-how is gradually being lost. The pieces obtained on these looms can neither be cut nor sewn and are worn directly as a loincloth. They are used as a support for the dyeing known as "Sacred Forest". As for the "Indigos", you will find them on all the big markets, especially in Fouta, but also in specialized stores in Conakry. As for the "Sacred Forests", rarer in their traditional version, they are of course on sale in all the markets of the forest region or at the artisanal center of N'Zérékoré, but also in Conakry. A word of advice to future buyers of these colored cotton fabrics: loincloths often bleed at first wash; it is therefore preferable to wash them by hand, in cold water and salt or white vinegar to fix the color. If you can't find traditional natural or dyed fabrics, you can easily find their industrial cotton versions. The dyers who use the technique of "reserved designs", obtained by binding and sewing the fabric or by printing wax stamps, have developed beyond the traditional bases a wide range of patterns and colors that, combined, give an infinity of models. The choice is sometimes difficult. Most of the dyers' groups in the big cities such as Kindia, Labé, N'Zérékoré... offer their products for direct sale in their workshops, an opportunity to discover their work and to negotiate the prices or not.
Traditional music instruments
Guinea is the cradle of the balafon (an instrument resembling a xylophone made of wooden blades and calabashes), whose ancestor is preserved in Niagassola in Upper Guinea. It is more generally a land of music and musicians. Traditional instruments are therefore very present in daily life. Even if more and more sound systems are replacing the artists in celebrations (weddings, baptisms, etc.), it is still quite common in Conakry to come across groups on a beach, in a bar or in a neighborhood house, accompanied by dancers. This is an opportunity to discover the local rhythms and why not make a small audio recording as a souvenir.
Aspiring or experienced musicians, you will find locally made djembes, dum-dum, balafons and other koras in craft stores or at the artists/instrument makers. Of course, for some of them, these instruments can represent a high cost and especially a volume a little complicated to manage for a possible transport, but they are often declined in reduced models which can constitute a happy alternative as souvenir
Leather craftsmen
Leather work is carried out mainly by cobblers, another caste-based profession, who originate from Fouta. One of their strongholds is the town of Dalaba, where they have created a cooperative, the Cooperative of Shoemakers of Dalaba (Cocodal), which is well known in the region and beyond. Here the work is done in family and mixes all generations. The workshop is also the store of exhibition and sale. No prices are displayed, everything depends on your negotiation gifts. Nude feet and other sandals, for men or women are traditional or more modern, some artisans have given free rein to their inspiration. Next to the exhibition tables are handbags, coasters and coasters combining leather and vegetable fiber and very often dyed in red, green or yellow, glass bottles decorated on the same principle (some are real works of "goldsmithing"). Wallets, bracelets and pendants complete the display
If you are in Dalaba, this is an "obligatory" or almost obligatory stop. However, you will find similar leather goods just about everywhere in the big cities, including of course Conakry. The diversity of the offer and the quality of the work are however not for sure the same
Masks and sculptures
Nimba and "The Thinker" are certainly the two most reproduced statuettes in the country's sculpture workshops. Of all sizes, in different woods (red wood, teak and ebony but more rarely), you will find them at all prices. The first is originally a Baga mask, a mask of both fertility for women and fertility for the fields; the second is more modern and represents in a stylized way an individual seemingly absorbed in his thoughts. However, beyond these great classics of local sculpture, you will also find a great diversity of statuettes and figurines inspired or not by local life: elephants or Sili, the symbol of Guinea, busts of women wearing the famous crested headdress of the Peules, more or less stylized masks borrowed from the different ethnic traditions, animals of the African fauna whose representatives are unfortunately more numerous in the sculpture workshops than in the Guinean nature. Guinean sculptors are mostly from Upper Guinea, where an ancestral tradition is perpetuated, but also from the forest region where the reproduction of masks is the basis of the objects made. Nowadays, workshops in the interior of the country are becoming increasingly rare as artists migrate to Conakry with the hope of being able to continue to live from their art. Besides the traditional woodcarvers, other artists in the capital find their inspiration in their environment and create unique works from recycled materials. Thus, metal pieces of all origins are assembled in the hands of sculptors/welders into improbable and colorful characters or old papers find an umpteenth life being transformed into original masks under the spatula of plastic artists. You will find metal sculptures on the side of the road when you go up to the peninsula of Kaloum, paper mache works in a workshop near the presidential palace. An opportunity to discover the artists at work.
Utility and decorative basketry
Essentially from Fouta Djalon, where it is practiced exclusively by women, basketry is above all a traditional activity. Basketry here takes the form of round trays of different diameters and small baskets where the natural color of the fiber, straw yellow, is combined with black and orange to form simple geometric patterns. The trays called lefas have always been used by the Fulani to cover the calabashes used as containers for fonio, rice or curdled milk. Today the use has diversified. They are used as trivets, decorative elements on walls or on traditional ceilings. They are also often given as a welcome gift. But the objects made evolve little if not in the patterns that decorate them. However, there are variations on the shapes of the baskets. In recent years, baskets with flat bottoms and less high and more rounded sides have appeared, giving them a little "modern" look. Most of these models are made and sold in the Dalaba region. They can be found on some market stalls (especially at shoemakers') and in some stores in Conakry.
Natural products of the land
If the local handicrafts have not seduced you, why not take away some of the taste or texture of local natural products. Stores such as Consommons guinéen located in the Franco-Guinean Cultural Center in Conakry specialize in these products from all over the country. The choice is rather diversified in a rather wide price range. Buying in this store is also an opportunity to support craft groups that often in the depths of the country work to highlight their land and make quality products. Will you be tempted by the shea butter or raw shea butter directly from Upper Guinea where it is extracted from the nuts of the same name, the honey from Fouta or Upper Guinea collected from traditional or Kenyan beehives and with powerful flavors, the jams with exotic flavors, pineapple, mango or bissap (hibiscus flowers) or even a few bags of dried mango for sweetness or candied ginger for strength of taste. Or will you be more tempted by the solar salt extracted from the salt marshes of the Boffa region thus making a small militant act by buying a salt which is now produced in basins thanks to the sun's rays and without using the wood of the mangrove, thus allowing to preserve and regenerate this ecosystem.
