An art gallery, digital production studio, media lab, co-working space, and artist’s community, all in one, is what would describe Envision Media Arts Collective.

Founded in 2018, the collective has been a hub for creative minds to work amongst each other, be inspired by one another, share space, resources, and knowledge to the mutual benefit of the group and to the Rwandan art scene at large.

Peter Lee, the founder and CEO, came up with the idea after two years of training dozens of students at Agahozo Shalom Youth Village. Seeing the creative potential in them he decided to set up a social enterprise to help young Rwandans develop their talents. 

As a long term volunteer from the United States with a background in photography and filmmaking, he started Envision with three artists who had graduated from ASYV and has since expanded to 40 members, most of them from Nyundo School of Art and Music.

"We want to be a resource for different artists to develop their careers by giving resources, professional space to work, exhibit their work and create a community of artists from different backgrounds who have talent and just need to grow,” he shares.

He also explains that a physical space where people work together creates a culture of collaboration, creativity, and community. As such, a workspace that creates an atmosphere of openness where they can be surrounded by other artists, who aren’t necessarily in the same field, helps them feel inspired by the work that everyone is doing.

Also, because certain quality equipment and studio space is somewhat limited in Rwanda, the collective helps provide these resources for aspiring artists.

Several unique art pieces, from photography, paintings, cultural pieces and drawings are showcased at the centre.

For Lee, since members are nurtured to be independent artists and are aided in marketing their products, he encourages them to be more creative and not be afraid to take risks so they can create unique pieces that can give them exposure.

Angelo Bertrand Kwizera was among Envision’s first members since its opening. For him, just the idea of a space where one can find like-minded people, and the fact that it offered the opportunity to get equipment to realise projects, attracted him to the collective.

He currently uses the space as an office to meet with clients while his pictures are exhibited at the center. As a photographer, his work has since expanded to working with celebrities and some of his pictures have found their way to exhibitions at Kigali Marriott Hotel and in New York.

"It’s amazing being part of envision which has become like a family to me, seeing its members leveraging their careers, seeing young artists developing their potential, earning money from their passion and members growing to own high-end equipment like cameras and computers shows that envision vision to help the young artist community to grow is being achieved,” Kwizera says.

Aimable Mugabo, another member, does painting and paper craft that are also showcased at the centre. Having joined last, he says he used the space to learn from his peers as well as access material that he was previously unable to.

Growing bigger

For Lee, witnessing the collective constantly evolving and members coming with new concepts has been the highlight of the centre.

As a social enterprise, however, the collective still grapples challenges of finding enough market for the artists, getting value for their art and financial challenges to sustain it.

"We have been trying to pull through enough resources to sustain the centre and my parents have been my biggest supporters. As a social enterprise, however, I needed to think through ways to find means to sustain it and keep it running,” he says.

As such, he has expanded the collective to a wider space, just close to their premises in Gishushu. In addition to a writing room, sound production, professional equipment rentals, independent production, photography room and a larger co-working space for startups that need space, Envision is setting up an art café for affordable eating options. 

As a professional cook too, Lee says he will be incorporating artistic and unique food options on the menu, as well as providing space for artists to showcase their work. The space which will be launched next month will have large murals to add to Kigali’s beauty.

"We are trying to expand so we can offer a larger market for creatives. Sustainability was a challenge which is why we needed to generate more money through art. We hope that through this expansion, we can have more room for more artists who are looking to expand their craft,” he explains.