When you see one of Stefan Budian’s fascinating treasure paintings, you are not just looking at a beautiful painting on canvas, you are looking at countless layers of colours, inspiration and life experiences. In fact, there is much more to them than simply what meets the eye which is why they are best described as ingenious multimedia art works.

Seven weeks ago, the talented artist left his hometown Mainz in Germany where he lives and works as a professional oil painter and travelled to Kigali for an innovative cultural project under the Rhineland-Palatinate / Rwanda partnership.

During his stay, Budian had the chance to collaborate with 16 Rwandan contemporary artists, who included 3 women and two musicians.

The visual artists all came to his guest house to add a layer of creativity on the one canvas that stayed there for the entire length of the project. Using acrylic paint which was brought from Germany, they let their imagination run freely and painted whatever they felt like.

In what Budian called the ‘space of freedom’, the German artist watched as the locals explored the true essence of art.

The end result is something so simple but hard discern and all answers behind the mystery painting will be answered at an exhibition that is due to take place at the Goethe Institut. The painting will be showcased, together with a video which explores the whole process and photographs of the different states of the artwork.

Budian is a strong believer in the importance of art in development of society.

"Freedom of creativity is something that is much needed in these changing times that the world is going through. I like to share the opportunity of this freedom and invite people to share it too of course” he says.

The multimedia masterpiece created in Rwanda will soon be showcased on a website dedicated to the project.