Places to Buy Souvenirs in Kumasi, Ghana

Markets meet Community in Kumasi
Markets meet Community in Kumasi | © Joachim Huber / Flickr
Kwame Aidoo

Kumasi is one of the best locations for exuberantly decorative traditional pieces, simple yet delicately cut cultural Ashanti and modern Ghanaian artistic gifts. Whether you’re looking for stylish wood designs, symbol paintings, textiles, or sculpture, they all make up the superb collection of souvenirs you need.

Souvenir stalls at Kejetia Market

West Africa‘s largest outdoor market consists of hundreds of comprehensive shops and small tabletop collections that will offer you affordable reminders of this central place in Ghana.

Shop at Kejetia Market

Market

Street scene Kejetia Market
© Adam Jones / Flickr
This mammoth market spans a head-spinning 11,000 stalls and runs the gamut from kente, food stuffs, sandals, batik, bracelets, beads, and second-hand clothing among other things. Kejetia is a great space to see a slice of everyday Kumasi life and indulge. The sounds, smells, sights and atmosphere sums up the community that spreads into the margins of the Ashanti region.

Kumasi’s cultural hub

The cultural hub known for showcasing the works of local sculptors, potters, glass bead artisans, textile producers as well as several artists pursuing diverse genres connected to the Ashanti kingdom and outside its circle is the Centre for National Culture, Kumasi.

Centre For National Culture, Kumasi

Art Gallery, Library, Market, Museum

kumasi
© Joachim Huber / Flickr
Located a short distance from Kejetia Market, this popular space holds the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum of Ashanti history, library, bookstore, exhibition hall, and the popular eatery Kentish Kitchen that serves delicious and locally-made foods such as fufu and jollof. Works by local craftsmen are also available to purchase with some very talented painters and wood workers selling their wares.

Adinkra Motherland

Ntonso is a village in the Ashanti region, a few kilometres from Kumasi, known to be home to several talented families who demonstrate, teach, and sell Adinkra cloth. You can also carve your own calabash stamp for textile printmaking.

Local Artwork at Ntonso Adinkra Village

Market, Museum, Store

IMG_1457
© Shawn Zamechek / Flickr
Ntonso village is one of the only places to pick up Ashanti symbolic Adinkra handmade crafts and get involved in the creative endeavour. Learn all about Adinkra symbols and their roots in Akan culture. Get to know about historic concepts and aphorisms, try out the dyeing process, and buy a strip of this unusual, symbol-laden fabric.

Home of kente

Adanwomase is about 27 kilometres north-east of Kumasi. Versatile weavers spread from here all the way to Bonwire, two kilometres away.

Adanwomase Kente Cloth and Tourism

Market

Adanwomase Kente Cloth and Tourism
© Shawn Zamechek / Flickr
Discover the art and history of the kente cloth at Adanwomase Kente Cloth and Tourism village. Kente, a popular interwoven fabric native to the Akan people, has been produced on hand-operated looms for hundreds of years. Kings wear the most striking examples, made with rich, colourful threads and heavy cotton. To get a comprehensive history of this fascinating subject, pay a visit to the Adanwomase Kente Cloth and Tourism village, see traditional loom weaving in action, and pick up a few yards of the fabric.
Markets meet community in Kumasi

Purchase pots at Pankrono

Pankrono is acclaimed for its exceptional shelves filled with pottery, handmade without the use of the potter’s wheel.

Pankrono Pottery Market

Market

ksi
© Maarten van der Bent / Flickr

Traditional pottery in Kumasi has its haven in Pankrono; located eight kilometres on Mampong Road and 25 minutes on a trotro from Kejetia. The pottery method here is simple and functional, where glaze is rarely used and the colour of the pot depends largely on the type of clay applied and frequency of firing. Pottery is made by mostly women as the men decorate with vivid designs. In conjunction, one can visit Ahwiaa (known for wood carvings) from Pankrono, which shares the same road.

Ahwiaa Wood World

Ahwiaa is known for spectacular expertise in epic wood moulding techniques. Their specialised visual art process of wood carving is talked about all over.

Ahwiaa Woodwork Market

Market

Kumasi Central Market-Kumasi-Ghana
© Suleiman Oluwatomiwa / Culture Trip

Ahwiaa is a town in the Kwabre East district of the Ashanti region. The architecture of the town is an entry point into wood design inherited from sophisticated ancient civilisation of the people. Only 30 minutes drive from Kejetia, one can experience the lifestyle of Ahwiaa, as well as buy quality and cheap wood carvings, furniture, masks, unity globes, animal carvings, and other massive artworks and crafts made from red sillar, mahogany, thick wood, and ebony.

Gift shops in Kumasi you should know

Agyaba jewellery is the place to order wedding rings, diamond studs, pendants, earrings, bracelets, anklets, necklaces and more. They can be located on Prempeh II street, Adum, Kumasi. Frankies Gift Shop focuses on fashion trends and is situated at Santasi roundabout next to Emmauella Hair Studio. Other gift shops in the garden city include Doramat, Elohim Royal, and Okaysions.

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