Moroccan artist Abdelilah Bensassi has teamed up with art collector and beauty therapist Judith Meloni to open an art gallery and a spa in Kimihurura, Kigali.

Bensassi is a contemporary artiste and a native of Mazagan in Morocco where he was born in 1969. He mixes natural pigments, sand and earth as his favourite materials, and works with paintings and paper with speed and precision to create bases of bright and warm colours.

His attractive pieces of artwork now grace the walls of Zenora Wellness Centre in Kimihurura, the name of the spa and massage parlour owned by Meloni.

Meloni says she has been travelling around the world and collecting art pieces that she now wants to showcase to Rwandans.

"When I came back to settle in Rwanda after travelling around the world two months ago, I thought of having an exhibition that combines the beauty of the body and the beauty of the eyes. That’s how this Centre was born,” says Melon.

"This is a great idea not only for Rwandans to discover the rich Morocco culture but also to come, see and embrace the varied global culture while at the same time, focus on their beauty of the body, since both are expressions of aesthetics,” she adds.

Bensassi says his work is influenced by the natural beauty of landscape and since he came to Rwanda two years ago, his passion has been to paint and preserve the beauty of the country through his work.

He’s now holding a weeklong exhibition at the newly-opened Centre.