New York Times Features Art in Rwanda

Last updated on: March 12, 2015 at 4:46 pm by Lisa M. Hendey

New York Times Features Art in Rwanda 2015-03-12T16:46:31-07:00 Lisa M. Hendey

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Today, I continue my 100 day series remembering the twentieth anniversary of Rwandan genocide. Please join me in prayer for those lives lost and impacted in this tragedy. #NeverAgain. LMH

Last week, the New York Times ran an article in their travel section entitled In Rwanda, Looking to Art to Soothe. The piece offered a compelling look at the growing art scene in Rwanda:

Twenty years after a genocide left an estimated 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi men, women and children, dead over a period of 100 days, Rwanda is on the rise. Its economy is growing; tourism is increasing. And unexpectedly, an art world is flourishing in Kigali, the pleasant million-person capital of lush hillsides and flowering trees. Mr. Karakire is one of the many young artists forging an art scene in the city, where numerous galleries, art-focused community centers and independent studios have popped up in recent years. Some works are inspired by the country’s devastating recent past, while others, brightly painted and optimistic, look to the future.

The lively art scene has turned this once-quiet and traumatized city into a place where not just art openings but also literary readings, dance performances and concerts take place regularly in the courtyards of galleries, and artists give lunchtime lectures at cooperative working spaces. A number of tech start-ups and a fashion collective run by fledgling designers have also found a toehold in the safe and almost eerily tidy Rwandan capital.

The galleries mentioned in this article will definitely be on my “wish list” for places to visit if I ever have the opportunity to travel back to Rwanda. I’m inspired by those who are using creativity and beauty to reclaim a sense of healing in the wake of the genocide.

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