“This Arusha gallery is built in the shape of a giant spear piercing a Maasai shield, and sells Tanzanite, a gemstone found nowhere on Earth but Tanzania.”
About Arusha Cultural Heritage Centre
The centre was developed as a combined art gallery, craft market and gem dealership to showcase Tanzanian culture to the many safari travellers passing through Arusha. Its spear-and-shield design draws on Maasai symbolism. Its Tanzanite trade reflects the stone's unique origin in the Merelani hills near Kilimanjaro, the only place in the world it is mined.
The Arusha Cultural Heritage Centre is a vast art gallery, craft emporium and Tanzanite showroom on the edge of Arusha, instantly recognisable by its striking architecture shaped like a giant spear and a Maasai shield. Inside, it claims to hold one of the largest collections of African art under a single roof, from Makonde carvings to contemporary painting.
Inside, it claims to hold one of the largest collections of African art under a single roof, from Makonde carvings to contemporary painting.
A Spear and a Shield
The building itself is a landmark, designed so that from the air and the road it reads as a colossal spear piercing a shield, symbols drawn from Maasai warrior culture. Spread over several floors, the centre gathers art and crafts from across Tanzania and the wider continent, alongside a major display and dealership of Tanzanite, the violet-blue gemstone found only in Tanzania, near the foot of Kilimanjaro.
The Experience
You wander floor after floor of carvings, paintings, textiles, masks and furniture from across Africa, with prices to match the safari crowd it serves. A highlight is the Tanzanite gallery, where the rare blue-violet gem is displayed and sold. Even without buying, the scale of the collection and the architecture make it worth a stop.
Why It Matters
The centre is the main showcase of Tanzanian and African art for visitors to the northern circuit, and a key marketplace for Tanzanite, a gemstone that exists nowhere else. It packages the country's artistic and geological distinctiveness into one memorable, if commercial, destination.
The centre is the main showcase of Tanzanian and African art for visitors to the northern circuit, and a key marketplace for Tanzanite, a gemstone that exists nowhere else.
Why Visit
One of Africa's largest art and craft collections under one roof, a landmark spear-and-shield building, and the chance to see and buy Tanzanian Tanzanite.
✦ Insider Tips
- 1
Note the architecture, shaped as a spear piercing a Maasai shield.
- 2
See the Tanzanite gallery; the gem is mined only in Tanzania.
- 3
Browse art from across Africa over multiple floors.
- 4
Prices target safari tourists, so bargain or simply look.
