Gallery Baraka is an excellent gallery selling items from West Africa as well as some crafts (especially Maasai beadwork) created in other parts of Kenya. They also sell a few locally made wood carvings.
The craftsmanship on some of the pieces on display is incredible. Small wood carvings, pottery, jewelry and other artisan work fill the walls and tables inside. This is the best gallery that I found in Lamu. They are located on the main street just inland from the harbor front. Phone: 33355. A guide can give you exact directions regarding its location.
“For truly local craftsmanship on Lamu, visitors should check out “Culture Studio ” (accessible from the seafront or main street, near Soda Grocers and Coconut Juice Garden) and “Coconut Arts & Crafts Exhibition ” (a little more off the beaten path, but fun to find in the labyrinth of narrow streets–they have posters all over town with a map to the workshop.”
~ Kristen
There are some excellent furniture stores in Lama – the best one I found was south of town on the harbor front road (at the very end of the water front). Some of the dealers employ craftsman who literally spend days crafting and carving huge ornate wooden doors which are shipped to coastal cities in the south such as Mombassa and then wind up gracing the front of opulent homes.
I purchased a slat chair which has an intricately woven mesh forming the support on the back – I ended up lugging this for 35 days around Africa before I flew home! One furniture store showed me their workshop in the back and the owner told me the process of how the doors and and other pieces of furniture were made.
The following web site in New York sells Lamu made furniture. The owner of this site splits his time between Lamu and New York. www.lamu.com
Leave a Reply