Kabwata Cultural Village

Kabwata Cultural Village is home to 72 woodcarvers and artists who showcase their products. The cultural village helps artists change the way the artisan industry has typically worked by providing a market that is ready to purchase handmade, unique and ethically produced items.

Kabwata Cultural Village promotes quality craftsmanship and encourages artists to create pieces of work using high quality materials, detailed and time consuming techniques. It also empowers artisans to step outside their comfort zone and to embrace their creativity by combining their own experiences in this modern culture with their heritage, to create something beautiful.

To showcase Zambian culture, traditional dancers perform in the Kabwata Cultural Village central arena on weekends and public holidays.

So if you appreciate art, culture, history and community, then you'll enjoy a visit to this Lusaka attraction. Any purchase you make, since bought at source, will make a direct contribution to the people's livelihoods. At Kabwata Cultural Village you will experience warm Zambian hospitality first hand, making this a great Lusaka attraction to visit.

You'll have the opportunity of meeting the creators of these authentic Zambian wares, and their families too. And you will be able to buy crafts directly from the craftspeople, experience traditional dance and sample local food.

Kabwata Cultural Village is open daily from 8:00 to 18:00. This is not only a great tourist place but is also popular with locals with a keen eye for quality Zambian products. You'll find Kabwata Cultural Village along Burma Road in the Kabwata Estates in Lusaka.

History

This crafts village was established in 1974 when it became home to the Kabwata Visual Arts and Cultural Association – KAVICA. It offers visitors a chance to witness life in the city as it was in the 1950s and 1960s, in the days when Zambia was under British rule, which ended at independence in 1964.

Historically, woodcarvers and craftsmen from all nine provinces of Zambia were invited to make their home at Kabwata Cultural Village to produce traditional handicrafts in order to promote quality craftsmanship and maintain strong links to the cultural heritage of Zambia.

A visit will enable you to compare Kabwata Cultural Village and its immediate surroundings with the rest of Lusaka, helping you to better appreciate the long and often difficult road Zambia has travelled to become the modern country it is today.

Tigwilizane Restaurant is ideal for guests that want to experience authentic Zambian cuisine. Taste the many different varieties of foods across Zambia at the Tigwilizane Restaurant – village chicken (nkuku mu chikasu), buffalo (nyama ya mu mpanga), fresh or dried fish such as bream, smoked or fresh, all deliciously prepared Zambian style.

The restaurant provides over 10 different local vegetables such local indigenous egg plant called 'impwa' cassava leaves (katapa), sweet potato leaves (kalembula), dried amaranthas (bondwe), or pumpkin leaves (chibwabwa). You don't get much more authentic than this – traditional food cooked from recipes passed down orally from one generation to the next.

Vegetables are served in season

• Sweet potato leaves (kalembula)
• Lady's fingers or okra (chilungu ntanda)
• African polony (chikanda)
• Dried amaranthas (bondwe)
• Pumpkin leaves (chibwabwa)
• Cassava leaves (katapa)

Exotic meat menu: Special village chicken (inkoko ya kutumba) Village chicken in peanut sauce (inkoko ya kusashila) Grilled game meat (inama ya mpanga ya kocha) Fried caterpillars (ifishimu fya kusalula) Oxtail