Arts & Crafts

Burkinabe craftsmen contribute up to 20% of the gross domestic product. With so much happening in the burkinabe craft industry, it is not surprising that the largest arts and crafts exposition of the African continent, the International Arts and Crafts Show of Ouagadougou, takes place in Ouagadougou.

Below are the main types of arts and crafts :




The bronze technique
Small statues produced using the “bronze à la cire perdue” technique, which the craftsmen of Ouagadougou have mastered, are today among the most popular crafts from Burkina Faso.



Woodcarving
The burkinabe are among the most skilled African sculptors. The most popular masks are made with blade sore or sénoufo masks. Other famous wooden crafts include traditional musical instruments: the balaphon (wooden xylophone), tom-toms of all shapes and sizes (in particular the "djembé") as well as the "kondé" a very elegant flute

Basket making
Basket makers remain extremely popular in Burkina Faso and for generations have also made traditional crafts (baskets and hats of all shapes and sizes). They are also able to adapt easily to the modern world’s demands by making slippers, hats, bread baskets, and bags

Carpets and embroidery
Thick wool pile carpets from the arts and craft Center of Gounghin, in Ouagadougou, are renowned for their elegant patterns and quality. They are thick, at least 2 cm and amount to more than 40 000 points per square meter. As for embroidery, it was always encouraged among young burkinabe women by sister missionaries in Ouagadougou who organized specialized workshops (sewing rooms). Their main crafts include skillfully embroidered linen (tablecloths, mats, towels).



Weaving

Traditional weaving on a tiny instrument, producing only one narrow fabric band, is still practiced. But with this rudimentary tool, burkinabe weavers are still able to make wonderful things. More specifically, splendid polychrome blankets with geometrical patterns and splendid traditional outfits that are still very popular today both in the countryside and in cities. As a country with strong cotton traditions Burkina Faso is also famous for its multicolored fabrics and clothes "Faso daN Fani". The Mouhon province’s pottery, Saponé’s straw baskets and leathers from Kaya are beginning to be exported. However, bronze statues are still the most popular souvenirs for visitors to the country.

Pottery

Pottery is the most common art and craft in the country and a reserved task for women (in villages, the potter is often the wife of the blacksmith). Several villages are renowned for their pottery.

Leather trade

Burkina Faso is a cattle-rearing country and has always used cattle and sheep skins for leather. Leather is used to make bags, sacks, sandals, and ornaments for baskets. The peul and Tuareg nomads of the north of Burkina Faso are particularly gifted. They weave polychrome leather bands to decorate wallets, bags, and hats and have become experts in the leather technique called "repoussé" which allows one to cover chests and boxes of all shapes and sizes, mirrors....