Handmade from Tanzania is my favourite - handwoven fabrics, including bedsheet-wide ones. (Imagine the size of their looms.) Handmade from Tanzania use Tanzanian cotton hand-dyed and woven on the premises, and cooperate with Ifakara Women Weaver’s Collective (who are even more amazing, but based all the way in Ifakara. If you do head to Ifakara, maybe on the TAZARA, make sure to buy some of their colourful ingeniously woven kikois.)
So Handmade has sheets, bedspreads and other cool stuff made from the cloth – a little on the pastel side for my taste, but I bet you can commission fabrics where both warp and weft are from dyed thread and get some really intense colours. Most recently I bought some cool clothes (sleeveless hoodie: new favourite garment) that combine handwoven with kitenge. (Tip to the tailors: make the zipper seams tighter and add a lining...) They also have a cabinetmaking section with furniture – the original ‘discarded dhow’ wood – with Scandinavian designers frequently in residence. If you’re stretched for cash the picture frames are lovely. Handmade is on Uganda Avenue, right behind CCBRT. It's easiest to find by coming from QBar, heading towards Msasani, but taking the last right (Uganda Ave) at the T-junction at the end of the road. Handmade is on the right after about 50 meters.
At Slipway: I've always been disappointed by the souvenir sheds on the southern side of Slipway (across from the parking lot if you're at the hotel/shopping centre). All the sheds sell the same stuff, including purple wraps from Thailand, unimaginative paintings of Maasai and giraffes, mediocre beadwork. I'd head to the Souk at Slipway and ignore the higher-priced versions of the shed shops (identifiable by the rows of beaded sandals outside) and shop at the beads-keyring shop on the corner, and at Africraft where everything is recyled. I've been to Africraft's workshop in Mikocheni (not hard to find) and seen that they are genuinely creative: someone there has made a pair of men's cargo shorts from a cement sack.
The Green Room (upstairs at Slipway, above the umm toilets) is usually a safe bet: just walk in and you'll find something in good taste. Well, lots of pastels but there's quirky stuff, chunky dark-wood jewellery, Sarah Markes prints and posters, breezy beachwear, plants and gardening stuff, furniture and furnishings...
The Green Room sells some things from Moyo, but their own shop at Oysterbay Shopping Centre is the epicentre. Moyo make fresh and fun home furnishings from kitenge fabric, with great colour combinations (not all of them wacky). You've probably seen their trademark fabric bobble corners on cushions on sofas all around Dar. I like their fabric-covered notebooks and beach bags.
Morogoro Stores (the alley next to Shrijees Supermarket on the Oysterbay end of Haile Selassie road) is the place to get berries from the Morogoro hills, wholefoods, cheap booze and Tingatinga Art Collective art. Along the alley a re a few handicraft/wholefood shops where you can get rye flour, those mysterious waxy giant seeds that are supposed to be so good for you, marmalade, seeds, honey and more cheese in case you missed Njombe at the monthly market. All made by disadvantaged people who will benefit from your spending.
At the end of the alley is the Tingatinga cooperative where you can buy name plaques, spare tire covers, paintings, trays and mugs featuring all the swirling fish, curved-necked secretary birds and red-eyed hippos your heart desires. It's not very original but the members can't be blamed for producing what sells. As far as I know the other painting shops on the alley are not part of the collective.
If you do want original art by Tanzanians, check out Nafasi Artspace. They have studios for artists (including African artists in residence) but also host a range of cultural events - hands-on art workshops for all ages (the 'ChapChap' series), music gigs, movies, dance performances... Nafasi is in Mikocheni B(off Rose Garden Road, also accessible from Mwenge). Their artists often have exhibitions at Black Tomato café downtown too, if you just want to buy a funky drawing or print and congratulate yourself on a good purchase with a cappuccino and slice of cheesecake.
Speaking of Mwenge, the handicraft market there is pretty good. (From Mwenge junction drive a few blocks towards the university/Ubungo on Sam Nujoma Rd and the market is on the left). More variety and originality than at Slipway, and you get bigger pieces like carvings and spears and woodwork. You need to haggle.
And if you're in Iringa, check out Neema Crafts. The guesthouse is a nice place to stay and the shop has very stylish things made by disabled people.
I used to think the same way as you, about the sheds at Slipway. But then I visited, and discovered some interesting places. There is a guy there who makes little painted models of birds, which are quite nice (and certainly different). There is also a Zanzibari woodworker making boxes, frames, trays and so on. OK you can get that kind of thing easily in Stonetown, but in Dar I don't know of any other place where you can order that kind of woodworking stuff directly from the maker.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Richard! The birds are cheerful and delicate, and it's always good to have a source of Zanzibari woodwork in Dar - that stuff is elegant and takes some skill to carve. Thanks for the reminder!
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