Colourful and exotic shops in Maastricht

Maastricht is known for its small and out of the ordinary shops, I was once told. People from all over the Netherlands apparently come here on the first weekends of the months to see what our beautiful city has to offer, which theirs don’t.

Walking in town I’ve indeed often noticed tiny, cute and exotic shops that have appealed to my senses and curiosity but I’ve never walked into any of them so far. This time I decided that I would find out what they’re all about! Two of them are owned by expatriates from other European or African countries, who have settled down in Maastricht.

Afrikana
On Grote Gracht 55, there is a shop with the name AFRIKANA painted in big orange letters on its front window. I learn that the owners of this little shop arrived in Maastricht in 1994 as political refugees. Fleeing from the genocide which ravaged Rwanda, Berthe and Vincent Ruhamanya took their family to safety here in the Netherlands.

Talking about Rwanda and their roots is not easy. Berthe and Vincent feel that they simply have left their native country. They never went back and never thought back. “It is difficult… Rwandese know what happened… but the rest..?”

Their two sons and two daughters have graduated from Dutch universities, are “completely integrated” into Dutch society and speak fluent Dutch and some English – but very little French, the language spoken in Rwanda. “They’re better integrated than I am,” says Vincent who complains that Dutch is a hard language to learn. However hearing him talking to his customers makes me think that he is pretty much a fluent Dutch speaker himself!

Afrikana offers a wide selection of hair and skin care products – lotions for the sunburned skins of those who try to become darker like Africans, and skin lightening lotions for those who wish to be whiter… As Berthe humourously puts it: “The neighbour’s wife always looks better!”

Customers will find hair extensions to braid their hair just like in Africa, with beads to decorate the braids. In the food section, I notice spices of all sorts from India and chickens with a harder kind of meat that Africans tend to prefer – “unlike the European meat that has the texture of bread”, as well as different varieties of flour, such as cornflour or the special flour used to make authentic Indian chapatis.

Most customers are of African origins, coming in and out throughout the day to buy one item at a time. There are also occasional Dutch customers, who tend to refill their cupboards with African goods in one go. “A day with three Dutch customers is a good day… and is comparable to one with eight Africans!” Different tastes, different shopping styles…

As for me, I was very happy to discover a box of powdered milk that I had desperately been trying to find in the Netherlands, and cocoa butter cream which brought back memories of growing up on the Dark Continent. I left Afrikana with a happy heart.

La Passionara
The craziest but also the most beautifully decorated window I have seen in Maastricht belongs to a shop I always admire while walking by the Vrijthof square. La Passionara sells hats of all sorts and clothing items. It’s proud owner Kim Smith first came to the Netherlands 11 years ago from England, following her heart and her man from Rotterdam. It was around Christmas time, and the couple decided to pay a visit to Maastricht’s Christmas market which at the time was located at the Basilica of Saint Servatius.

Kim remembers taking a bus tour through the city. As she sat on the top deck and watched the crowd strolling on the Vrijthof square, she decided: “If one day I’m going to open my shop, it’s going to be here.” Women in Maastricht wore different things, she observed. They were well dressed and did not look alike. They each had their own style and didn’t seem afraid not to follow the main fashion trends.

As her relationship did not work out, Kim kept her word and opened shop in Maastricht. Today Kim sells hats from three designers, one French and two English, but she also designs many of them herself.

The oldest of 12 children, she never went to school, but stayed at home to help her mother with the house chores. When she first opened her shop, Kim, being illiterate, used to stop passers by to help her read letters. But finally at the age of 61, Kim decided that it was time to learn reading at least a minimum so that she could take care of her own mail!

Yet the fact that she never went to school and was never taught her craft may have also worked, at least in my opinion, to her advantage. Her designs are original and unlike anything else we can see out there, and they’re like a breath of fresh air when compared to all world famous names.

The designs of her hats and clothes reflect who Kim is; colourful and elegant with a hint of extravaganza! Every year she travels to Indonesia and Thailand to look for new materials for her creations. But she doesn’t travel in just any style; this beautiful lady actually backpacks like modern day teenagers, and always takes seven hats along!

“A woman should always look good,” she says. “We are lucky to be women and it is our power.”

“People often come to my shop and say how much they love my hats, but never buy them. They’re too scared. People will look at me, they say.”

For Kim however this is precisely the whole point of a beautiful hat! “When people are going to stop looking at me, I’m going to be worried!”

I enjoy my strolls around the city in search of quaint and exotic shops. The discovery of these little hidden treasures, and the stories I’ve heard make me feel confident to follow my investigative instinct again next time a display window strikes my eye. Meanwhile, I can only encourage any visitor to Maastricht to go and meet Berthe, Vincent and Kim in their charming shops!

By Amandine de Rosnay

Amandine de Rosnay is a Mauritian/French student at University College Maastricht. She is now focusing her studies in Social Sciences, more specifically in international relations and law.

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4211890310211321954[/googlevideo]
La Passionara

(NB. The video clip starts after about 30 seconds)

More information:

• Afrikana
  Berthe Mukankusi & Vincent Ruhamanya
  Grote Gracht 55
  6211 ST Maastricht
  http://www.afrikana.nl/
• La Passionara
  Kim Smith
  Bredestraat 30
  6211HC Maastricht
  http://www.lapassionara.com