A total of 70 finalists, including 51 males and 19 females, on Monday kicked started a five-day boot camp for the first edition of Art-Rwanda Ubuhanzi at Cenetra Hotel, Kabuga, just outside the capital Kigali.

The boot camp, which ends on December 7, is designed to develop individual talents that emerged from 2,400 contestants who participated in preliminary auditions.   

The contestants are competing for prizes in six different categories, namely Plastic Arts, which involves illustrators, painters and sculptors; Dance and Music, which brings together singers, instrumentalists and choreographers; Fashion, which targets budding and creative designers; Acting and Drama, a section of comedians and actors, Cinematography and Photography, that’s specifically meant for directors and cartoonists and, ‘Literature’, which covers authors and poets.

Each category is represented by 10 contestants, except music and dance which had 20, as the category which had the biggest number of contestants from the very beginning.

During the boot camp, contestants will be mentored by experts in the respective fields, receive training on how to develop individual talents, management and marketing skills, as well as design business projects.

According to Martine Umukunzi, the Communications Officer at Imbuto Foundation, the boot camp will last five days contrary to a two-week period that had earlier been communicated.

The winners will be announced during the grand finale slated for December 8 at Kigali Convention Centre during the Youth Forum series, an event set to be attended by all the 587 contestants who made it to the pre-selection, as well as other artists, and policymakers linked to the creative industry.

The youth forum will discuss the industry’s challenges and investment opportunities.

During the grand finale, all the 70 finalists will showcase their talents before a panel of judges and the best ones will be awarded with cash prizes, equipment and offered internships.

They will also benefit from a six-month incubation.

Art-Rwanda Ubuhanzi is a talent search competition oraganisd by Imbuto Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and the Ministry of Sports and Culture, with view to identifying and supporting young and talented Rwandans within the creative arts industry, help them nurture their creative talents to reach their full potential and create a positive impact in the creative and socio-economic development of the country.