Salon International de l'artisanat au Cameroun
logo siarcTitle Cameroon International Handicrafts Exhibition

Cameroon International Handicrafts Exhibition

Under the patronage of His Excellency Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon, the Ministry of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts organizes, from January 22 to 31 2010, in Yaounde, the 2nd edition of the Cameroon International Handicrafts Exhibition (SIARC).

This event will be held on the yard of the Yaounde city hall, under the theme: «Handicraft, a lever for local development».

This 2nd edition of SIARC will be held alongside with the 3rd Conference of Ministers in charge of Handicrafts in Africa and the 8th General Assembly Meeting of the Coordinating Committee for the Development and Promotion of Handicraft in Africa (CODEPA).

The 1st edition, held from January 25th to February 02nd 2008 on the esplanade of the National Museum in Yaounde was an economic, cultural, tourist and popular, success with the following figures:

  • 400 Booths spread over an area of 30 000 m²
  • 600 exhibitors came mostly from Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with an icon of African crafts: Congolese sculptor, Master Alfred LIYOLO LIMBE; (See list of participants)
  • 5000 visitors daily with is the most famous, being the 1st lady of the Republic of Cameroon Madame Chantal Biya, (see pictures of the visit)
  • 6 large sectors of activities were represented: wood, leather, textiles, pottery and ceramics, food processing and other services
  • An event whose purpose was to encourage excellence and specifically, creativity, artistic features and techniques of craft production in the sub region. (See list of the 69 winners).

The 2010 edition to be held on the front court of the Yaoundé City Council from 22 to 31 January 2010, aims to be a festive, popular, cultural, touristic and especially economic event open to handicrafts creations of five continents. For this to be, achieved this event aims to:

  • Gathering on a landscape with well arranged flowers covering a surface area of about 20 000 m², of which 15 000 m² is specifically reserved for the occasion, 600 craftsmen from around the globe, and installed in over 650 booths; (see exhibition plan)
  • Bringing together, the best handicrafts in the world
  • Giving opportunities to craftsmen through a live show, to express their talents and ingenuity on the venue
  • Being a conductive framework for trade and experiences of expertise
  • Enabling artisans and purchasers of crafts products to make contacts and even business contracts
  • Participating to the development of crafts through the organization of debates on current issues (See themes animation program)
  • Making the Leap to make SIARC a great rendez-vous of culture through a program of rich and dense cultural activities, reflecting the diversity of national cultural heritage; (See cultural programming)
  • Being a popular and touristic holiday, draining the beautiful park of the Yaoundé City Hall of 7500 visitors daily.