The craft market at the Petrified Forest is easy to walk past. It sits at the site entrance, a row of small stalls shaded by a tarpaulin, and its proximity to the tourist circuit makes it look like every other craft market at every tourist site in Africa. Pause and look more carefully. The woman behind the nearest table is selling jewellery made from ostrich eggshell beads that she has drilled and strung herself. The process takes hours per piece. The price she is asking is modest. The alternative, buying the same category of object from a gift shop in Windhoek, generates no income for anyone connected to the community whose land you are visiting.
Damaraland’s craft markets are genuine community enterprises, and the choice of where and from whom to buy has real consequences for the people who benefit.
What Makes a Craft Authentic?
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In Damaraland’s context, authentic means made by hand by a community member using traditional materials or skills. It does not necessarily mean identical to pre-colonial practice; craft traditions evolve, and contemporary Damara artisans incorporate new materials and techniques while maintaining the skill and cultural context that gives the work its character.
The opposite of authentic, in this context, is mass-produced: goods manufactured industrially, typically in Asia, and sold in tourist shops throughout southern Africa. The visual difference is often subtle but learnable: hand-drilled ostrich eggshell beads have slight irregularities; machine-made imitations are uniformly smooth. Hand-woven baskets have variations in tension and pattern; factory-made look-alikes are machine-regular. Hand-stitched leather has visible stitch variation; machine-stitched is uniform.
When in doubt, ask. Community craft sellers are not shy about explaining what they made and how. The conversation is itself a part of the value.
The Main Craft Types
Ostrich Eggshell Beadwork
One of the oldest and most distinctive craft traditions in southern Africa. San and Damara women have drilled and strung ostrich eggshell into beads for thousands of years. The process begins with breaking the shell into small pieces, roughly shaping them, drilling a central hole with a pointed tool, and then stringing multiple pieces and grinding them against a stone surface to round them into consistent discs.
The result is a pale cream-coloured bead with a matte surface and the slight irregularity of handwork. Ostrich eggshell beads are used in necklaces, bracelets, and hair ornaments. They are among the most culturally significant crafts in Damaraland and among the most portable souvenirs.
Where to find them: Twyfelfontein area community market; Petrified Forest entrance market; Palmwag Lodge craft outlet.
Damara Woven Baskets
Woven from palm leaves, sedge grasses, and other local plant materials using techniques passed through generations of Damara women, these baskets range from small decorative pieces to functional grain baskets large enough to require two hands to carry. The weaving patterns are geometrically complex and vary between individual weavers.
Where to find them: Khorixas community market; Twyfelfontein area stalls; the Damara Living Museum near Twyfelfontein.
Uis Tin Art
One of the most distinctive and entirely Namibian craft traditions: sculptures made from recycled tin cans, wire, and other found metal materials by artisans based in the town of Uis, on the southern edge of Damaraland at the foot of Brandberg Mountain. The tradition grew from the tin-mining heritage of the town and has developed into a recognised art form.
The range of subjects includes animals (the desert-adapted species of the region are popular), vehicles, figures, and abstract forms. The workmanship varies from simple to highly skilled; the best pieces are genuinely impressive as metalwork. They are not traditional in the sense of pre-colonial heritage, but they are entirely local, hand-made, and purchased directly from the makers who sell from small workshops and roadside stalls in Uis.
Where to find them: Uis town; several artisans have workshops visible from the main road through town.
Himba Jewellery and Leather
The Himba people of the Kunene Region, whose territory adjoins Damaraland to the north, produce distinctive jewellery incorporating leather, shells, metal, and the ochre-and-fat body paste (otjize) that is central to Himba cultural practice. Himba leather goods, including belts, bags, and decorative items, are made using traditional tanning methods.
Himba crafts are less frequently found at Damaraland’s central market sites than Damara crafts, but are available at Palmwag Lodge and at craft outlets in Kamanjab, which sits closer to the Himba heartland.
Where to find them: Palmwag Lodge; Kamanjab craft market.
Carved Wooden Animals
A widespread craft category across Namibia: hand-carved wooden animals in indigenous woods (leadwood, tamboti, mopane) by artisans in the northern regions. The quality ranges significantly. The best examples are genuinely well-observed and skilfully carved; the poorest are rushed and anatomically vague. The key indicators of quality are the proportions of the animal relative to the real species, the surface finishing, and whether the work shows evidence of time.
Where to find them: Available at most craft markets and lodge outlets throughout Damaraland.
Where to Buy
At the Source: Community Markets
The most direct community benefit comes from purchasing at the craft markets operated by or directly adjacent to community sites. These markets are at the Versteinerter Wald entrance, at the Twyfelfontein in Damaraland visitor centre, at the Damara Living Museum, and at community campsites throughout the region.
Prices at community markets are reasonable and not inflated for tourists. Gentle bargaining is accepted but aggressive bargaining is not appropriate; the margins are already thin and the makers are not wealthy.
Lodge Craft Outlets
Most Damaraland lodges sell crafts, either from a small in-lodge shop or from a curated selection at the reception area. The best lodge craft outlets stock goods purchased directly from community producers, with the lodge taking a modest margin and the majority going to the maker. Ask the lodge what their sourcing policy is if it matters to you; reputable lodges are transparent about this.
In Uis
Uis is the only town in Damaraland where craft-buying is itself a reason to stop rather than an add-on to a site visit. The tin art workshops on the main road sell directly from the makers, prices are lower than at lodges, and the experience of watching the work being made adds context to the purchase.
What to Avoid
Souvenir shops in Windhoek and Swakopmund stocking goods labelled as “Namibian crafts” frequently sell mass-produced goods with no community connection. If provenance matters to you, buy in Damaraland itself at community outlets.
Goods made from protected species. It is illegal to sell or export products made from elephant ivory, rhino horn, or certain reptile skins. Any seller offering these in Damaraland is operating illegally and the purchase, if discovered at customs, can result in serious legal consequences. If you are uncertain about a material, do not buy.
Removing natural objects from heritage sites. Taking rock fragments from the Versteinerter Wald, shell casings from the desert floor, or any object from a heritage site is illegal in Namibia. This is not a grey area.