Rwandan based painter Lewis Manishimwe also known as Manishart, has organised a solo art exhibition he dubbed ‘Divine Feminine’ that aims to honour women’s power, celebrate their beauty and encourage them.

The exhibition kicked off on Friday night, at 7PM on November 27, at Kigali Soul Art gallery in Gasabo District, Nyarutarama and will run until December 16.

"This is my second solo exhibition. I tried to express myself and to expose my way of thinking. Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, I have deeply grown attached to my career as a visual artist. I painted every piece here with more attention and that makes every artwork unique,’’ he said.

Talking to Manishimwe during the exhibition space, he said that the exhibition will showcase 17 artworks that he had been working on for a one year and six months period of time, each artwork has its own name and description and all the artworks are for sale.

The 26-year-old explained that the main objective of the exhibition is to spread a positive message of women empowerment to the Rwandan society and beyond.

"I want to show the world how powerful, intelligent, caring and amazing women are. Women are very important creatures to be celebrated and honoured. I wanted to express myself and use art to empower them and make them feel confident and valued,’’ he says.

"Art has a great power of love and expression. I’ve tried to put forward the social issues that a woman in society faces and why the world needs to embrace feminine power,’’ he added.

Manishimwe revealed that he was inspired by people, different stories of his friends, history, and community beliefs about women.

"I was inspired by one of my friend’s story, we've been together for a long time and I know her so much.  I was aware of everything she's capable of doing, but I was shocked at how she was not confident enough to show off what she is capable of. When I realised that, I thought that she might be her now but it might be my sister or any other women out there. That's how the idea came up,’’ he shared.

"I'm very sure that everyone who will get a chance to attend this exhibition will get different messages that are going to change their mindset about women. And for me, that’s my goal,’’ he added.

The visual artist however, said that he has started to receive positive feedback, of which he says that not only the beauty and the message behind his works but also the creativity they are made out of is unique with stylish frames.

Clement Iraguha, founder of Kigali Soul Art gallery, said that he was intrigued by Manishimwe’s artworks as they are made out of great creativity and also convey an interesting message of women empowerment.

He stated that Manishimwe’s artworks are made out of a great technical quality and that he was able to capture different emotions and activities that shows clearly women’s power and this would catch everyone’s attention.

He also added that they were very happy to host their first solo exhibition as a new gallery but they look forward to host other different exhibitions and support other talented artists.

Fatma Usanase, one of the attendees of the exhibition said that she was fascinated by Manishimwe’s artworks due to their unique style of painting and decorated frames. Adding that she loves to see the world embracing women’s power and what a woman is capable of doing.

She revealed that she specifically loved two pieces called "it's me" and "midnight sun" where the artist illustrates the value of a woman in the society that those two pieces are more diverse, their composition and their stories are deeper.

Manishimwe said that his exhibition has started to show success, calling on all art lovers to keep on supporting artists and their works.

Iraguha also highlighted that the art gallery will be open from 9AM to 10PM to all art lovers and guests.