When Rwanda hosted the 120th anniversary of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and 2024 FIA awards on December 13, it was a spectacle that got many people mesmerised, with thousands of people following the event online.

It was one of the shows of the year as motorsport champions took to the stage to receive their trophies, behind an artistic backdrop on the display screens that embodied Rwanda and left many in awe.

Behind the spectacular display is a Rwandan visual artist, Dolph Banza, who for three months worked with FIA to come up with the visuals to be displayed in the background during the awards ceremony, where the best drivers in their respective categories were recognised.

Born in Kigali in the early 1980s, Banza has always been the child who draws, for the teachers, for the neighbours and it was not surprising when the trained engineer dropped the elite profession to focus on his art talent.

"My education background is not into the arts, contrary to what many may think,” says Banza in a sit-down interview with The New Times, following his FIA project success.

"My education background is in the field of engineering. I did electronics and telecommunication,” says Banza, revealing his scientific upbringing.

It made sense because later he managed to find a way to integrate both his scientific background and passion for art. Surprisingly, in his family, there is no artist, all of them being technical people. It is for the same reason that he studied engineering due to family influence.

However, his love for art determined his course of life. "I have always liked drawing. I don&039;t know why, but I've always felt some kind of connection with drawing,” he says.

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Having fulfilled his parent’s wish to study a science course, he decided to make art a profession because he thought he was a far better artist than he was an engineer.

A life dilemma

Ideally, engineering would be a more rewarding and lucrative profession than art but for Banza, life is more about doing what you want rather than what other people want.

"It is true art is not a viable or a reliable profession, because there is a lot of inconsistency and financial instability, but for me it has always been clear. I would go for my passion rather than anything. That's what motivates me to make these decisions,” he says when asked how his parents perceived his decision to do art.

"As far as my parents are concerned, they were very supportive. They've never opposed me drawing because usually the reason why parents are opposing their kids to do art is because they think it's going to compete with their academic performance,” he narrates.

While he wasn’t the most excellent of students, Banza made sure he fulfilled his parents’ wish to pursue science courses, which is how he ended up training as an engineer. Luckily, when he decided to try out art, he had their full support.

Banza describes himself as an illustrator. He basically uses a bunch of lines and curves, which he combines to create the illusions that we get to see on backdrop screens. He has been doing this since 2009.

"I started out drawing as a child and later on, I studied graphic design and then I found a way to combine the two- design and illustration,” he explains when asked how he ventured into his current craft.

"Later on, I started looking into the geometry, what you can call ‘Imigongo’, which is really a type of geometry, which was practiced by our ancestors and to me, combining graphic design, illustration and geometry is a very matching theory for me,” he says, talking about how he fuses Rwandan culture and features with what he does.

"I've practised all these things. Right now, I'm at a level where I get to combine both into one single artistic expression. That's how I can define my art. All my drawings are mostly made by shapes,” he adds.

Banza has a connection with shapes. He likes and understands them. He literally studies them, no wonder he is an engineer.

"You could say that my style has some level of architecture, because of the scientific background. The symmetry, the proportions, the way I use the rules is really what happens in architecture,” he further says.

Banza explains that there's a lot of science behind art but above all, it has to communicate some kind of emotion, not just for the artist, but also for the consumer.

It takes creativity too, because you don't want to fall into the rules too much and you also don't want to depart from them completely.

In his kind of work, there has to be a perfect balance between going out there doing what you feel and at the same time applying the rules to get the best results.

A self-taught digital artist

It is fair to say that in Banza’s workshop, you won’t find paint stains as you would in many art studios because he is a digital artist. He only used conventional art materials when he was starting out.

"I no longer use paper or anything traditional, so everything is digital. This is a tablet. I can use this pencil on this one, but I can also use this one on the smaller tablet,” he says as he shows us his work tools.

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"I started out on paper but the thing about digital art is that you get access to a tonne of tools, which can be very helpful. You also get access to a tonne of tutorials online talking about art. That is how I educated myself into this,” he notes.

Banza has never had a teacher. He goes online to check for tutorials and follows artists he likes, learning the rules, the colour theory and all these other things that an artist needs to understand in order to master their craft.

He chose the digital way after joining university and got access to computers and applications, starting with manipulation of photoshop until he realised that Photoshop can help him to paint the drawings he previously did on paper.

"Later on, I discovered that all the artists were using Photoshop. It was like a coincidence because I started using it to paint my drawing before I even knew that someone else was doing the same,” he says.

It was an intuitive-based action for Banza and he has since never looked back. He was one of the first illustrators to use graphic tablets.

"I remember back in time when I would pop my tablet in a coffee shop, everyone would be looking at it wondering what it was,” he says. For him, a tablet is just nothing more than a precision mouse.

While he became a professional visual artist in 2009, it was just four years ago when he fully ventured into doing it as a full-time job, setting up his creative agency Ink Stain.

Banza has created many images portraying and depicting Rwanda, displayed in many gatherings and concerts, including visuals for the first Move Afrika concert that featured Kendrick Lamar.

As a visual artist, Banza considers himself an observer who can see many things that not so many people can see and the way he sees them allows him to bring them to life in an interesting way.

Working with FIA

Banza uses social media to display his work and he often gets contacted by people internationally or locally, who are looking for someone to do something for them and give it a local touch -something he specialises in.

That is how the FIA contacted him ahead of their December events and the process to work with them lasted over three months -from the first Zoom meetings to the time of the awards.

The FIA explained what they wanted, without being really specific and they left him with a creative license to suggest interesting concepts to them.

"We had more than 20 meetings right on Zoom, where I would have presentations, showing what I was doing, changing direction, adding more elements,”

"There was this back and forth between me and the FIA and the Rwandan team, to make sure that we really have something that is representative in an outstanding way,” Banza says.

It is not a one-man task, as it thrives on collaboration, working with a team of people. He suggests ideas and who gets to implement and also works with his team to work on different aspects such as animation.

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"I have a very interesting animator called Joel. He is like my person when it comes to motion design. It is always a very interesting process,” he says.

His work involves a lot of corporate interaction emails, calls, deadlines, strict deliverables and many exchanges between himself and the client. He works late but enjoys the process because it challenges and allows him to express himself creatively.

When he is creating, what is on Banza’s mind is to hypnotise those who get to see his work. They must be dazzled and mesmerised. He often gets to receive feedback after a concert or event

When he posted his Move Afrika artworks, he captioned them ‘mass hypnosis’ and that is what he really wants to achieve.

"That&039;s really what we are doing. It's like hypnotic work because you create something, you put it there and then you have like thousands of people looking at it and being amazed,”

"There is some kind of channeling in that process which is very interesting and very satisfying,” he explains.

What gives him pride is to see people looking at his work, especially when it is depicting Rwanda.

"It means a lot. It only encourages my process and answers all the doubts I've ever had when venturing into this profession,” he says when asked how he felt seeing his artwork displayed at the FIA events.

To him, that is what gives him joy. The money that comes with it is a bonus.

"The satisfaction of seeing people in front of your work is much more gratifying than the day you get paid,” he says.

While on the outside his work looks smooth and easy, it is not always fun and entertaining when they are developing concepts.

"Some of my work is too technical, too specific. I get to work with non-profits for their communication campaigns. We have to make manuals about how to wash hands, how to prevent certain illnesses, etc” he says, adding that it can get really challenging.

It also means that he has to be familiar with all fields and sectors his clients come from, meaning that he has to do a lot of background work in the different areas.

"I've worked in so many fields in education, civil society, health, finance and more,” he says, adding that he has worked with government agencies and international organisations such as UNICEF.

He is currently working on visuals for another exciting sporting event which Rwanda will be hosting next year.

Advice to young people

For young people who want to pursue a career in art, Banza says first one needs to have the passion to go into a certain sector, before looking at it as a source of money.

"Every time someone thinks that they are going to choose a sector because that's where they're going to get the money, there's something wrong with that,” he says.

"You can get money in any sector and you can do anything, but you really have to be good,” he says.

Banza says that being an artist comes with a sense of defiance because people are yet to value the sector as they should, attaching less value on artistic work, but when your work speaks for itself, it becomes easy to break through.

"For the youngsters who are looking into doing art and think that they may be disadvantaged financially, I can only tell them one thing, you have to be good,” he notes.

Particularly on visual arts, Banza says the industry is still young and the demand for the service is ever increasing. There is an opportunity for young people to grab.

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With Rwanda hosting international events and the world coming to Rwanda, the potential for the industry is huge and art will continue to play a pivotal role.

However, creativity and versatility are key. Even himself, he keeps his style very dynamic and alive, to incorporate new features, in a fast-evolving world. Many times, he has to do things unconventionally.

"The way you see something today is not the way you will see it tomorrow. The future can only bring more substance, more beauty, more emotion to my work,” he says, adding that he is also looking to teach and recruit more young people into the craft.

"I want to do more teaching because I like teaching a lot. I&039;m a natural teacher,” he says, adding that his mission is to pass on his skills to others, to carry on the legacy.