The Ivorian Minister of Crafts, Souleymane Diarrassouba, launched on May 28 the preparations for the 3rd edition of MIVA, the Ivorian market for handicrafts, scheduled from September 28 to October 7 in Abidjan. A meeting that will bring together around 1,000 exhibitors from around the world.
In three editions, the MIVA will take a new step this year to position itself as one of the main African platforms for promoting “cultural expression, creativity and know-how of actors and professionals” of African crafts . From 650 exhibitors from 21 countries during the last edition of 2016, this year, 1,000 exhibitors from 40 countries will be taking part in this new major biennial of African art.
This market, at the initiative of the Ivorian government via the ministry in charge of the Crafts, will offer a framework of exposure and valorization of a sector left behind in the economic landscape of many African countries, in Côte d’Ivoire. Ivory in particular, while it turns out to be a buoyant sector. In some African countries, crafts represent “about 12% of GDP” while being an invaluable pool of employment, explained Souleymane Diarrassouba.
The MIVA is therefore an opportunity for promotion that aims to give greater national and international visibility to Ivorian and African artisans. And it is in this perspective that Morocco, a country that has given a certain renown of its crafts, will for the second time be the guest of honor of the show.
For ten days, exhibition-sales, conferences, panels, professional meetings will furnish the show around the theme “Crafts: challenges and opportunities for the empowerment of women in Africa”, in the presence of 3,000 professionals and more than 100,000 visitors according to the organizers.
Note that the third edition of the MIVA, which will move on 20 000 m² to the exhibition park of Abidjan near the airport, will also house the “Salon of social and solidarity economy” of the CIDC, the Islamic center for the development of trade.