As I am writing this post I know it’s going to be my favorite one on Africa! It is about colors, wonderful fabric patterns, gorgeous handmade jewelries, creative interior decorations and lots of other forms of arts which woke up my senses and are filling my everyday with beauty.
I’ve always been interested in arts but I’ve never considered myself an artistic person. My passions have found expression mainly in areas like sports and technology, while art filled good 0-5% of my life. Since we moved to Rwanda, not a single day passed without arts and I love this kind of change! It has a tremendous impact on my imagination and creativity, values, perception of the world around me as well as my own’s.
In fact, my first encounters with African arts took place outside the continent. I’ve been to various exhibitions on Africa hosted in famous museums and galleries across Europe. However, since Africa was such a distant place for me, I’ve never really felt touched by the displayed art works. Maybe the comparison is not adequate but visiting those exhibitions was like product testing in a laboratory. You can still play around with the product; yet, the experience feels awkward and somehow out of context…
But let me share some of my recent art experiences in Kigali. I will continue writing about African arts, so if you are as curious and interested as I am, just follow me or check my blog every now and then for new art-related contents.
Artist: Timothy Wandulu
While exploring The Map of Kigali during our first days here (I use a capital letters because there is only one publisher of Kigali maps at the time being), I came across a local gallery – Yego Arts. As I was researching it online, I found another one – Ivuka Arts. The colorful African paintings grabbed my attention so I decided to visit them both. So while driving around to find them I spotted a one more local art center called Inema. It was love at the first sight! Now, a couple of months later, I feel home so much at this place. Even though Yego and Ivuka are also great and they were the places that raised my interest in local arts, Inema won my heart and mind!
Yego Arts (https://www.facebook.com/YegoArts ) is a relatively new gallery in the city. It was founded in 2013 by Tony Cyizanye, a Rwandan painter whose paintings were exhibited in a number of countries across the world. If you are interested, you can easily find more about him and his artwork on Facebook.
The gallery is not that easy to find (unless you know the exact address and have a map in your hands) but once you are on the right street you can’t miss its beautifully painted gate. This, together with the brightly painted facade of the building, seems to be a common feature of the art galleries in Kigali. I’ve been to three until now and they all have colorful facades. And still they have their own “personality” as it is the artists and the atmosphere inside that makes them unique.
What I particularly like about Yego is its simple and inviting interior. The gallery is hosted in the rooms of a one-floor house. If you decide to see not only the paintings on the walls but those on the floor leaning against the walls, you can easily spend the whole day there. As other local art centers, Yego is also home to many live music and other events stimulating cultural diversity, creativity and networking.
Ivuka Arts (https://www.facebook.com/IvukaArtsKigali), founded in 2007 by Collin Sekajugo, started as a group of local artists united by the aim to introduce contemporary art in Rwanda and to encourage young people to paint (art is taught very little at schools in Rwanda). With the time, the group of artists expanded and today the gallery has exhibitions internationally.
Ivuka is located on one of the many local dirt roads and it immediately captures your attention by the funky art installation at its entrance: an enormous vase covered by lots of plastic bottles sticking out of the vase with colorfully painted bottoms. While walking down the path to the building, the view of brightly painted walls and creative modern sculptures reveals in front of you and heightens your curiosity. I highly recommend checking out Ivuka Arts website / Facebook page for inspiration and local insight.
And here we come to my favorite art place – Inema Art Center(www.inemaartcenter.com). Why favorite? Because everything there makes me feel good and come back again. The paintings (they are soo cool!), the super creative backyard full of work in progress, dirty clothes, spots of paints and cans full of brushes spread everywhere, the artists (great people!), the green yard in front covered with creative art installations, or the wonderful in-house Inema Café and its staff, where I’ve recently had the best sweet ciabatta toast with sliced banana, pineapple jam and peanut butter!
And I haven’t even mentioned the variety of events and programs hosted by Inema, including wine and live music evenings, various art projects, dance, yoga and art classes and more…Yes, that’s why I love Inema! It is like a healthy food containing lots of vitamins to nourish all my senses!
I’ve read that Inema means “a blessing, a gift, a talent to give, to cultivate and to receive” in Kinyarwanda. I am blessed to have the opportunity to visit this place as often as I want to. A funny fact is that the names of the two brothers who founded the gallery in 2012 are Innocent and Emmanuel (In-Ema, isn’t that great?). As Yego and Ivuka, they are also committed to raise the value of contemporary arts in Rwanda, promote local talents and “create opportunities for Rwanda’s most underserved to use creativity for a productive livelihood” (as it is stated on Inema’s website). Simply beautiful!
When leaving the place after our first visit I already knew I will be very soon back. 3 days later my children and I were back for our first art class. Now I go there also during the week to paint, to have a chat with the artists, just hang around and see what’s new or for an event. This place is like a magnet. Good that it is not around the corner because I will probably start spending more time there than anywhere else.
The good news is that I have probably explored not even 20% of the local art world. There are other art and craft centers on my list. Who knows, maybe I will try a local pottery class next time. My kids are currently doing some pottery experiments at school as part of their Rwandan Arts & Culture week. They have Timothy Wandulu teach them – a young and very talented contemporary artist with breathtaking paintings! How lucky they are!
End of Part 1.
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