Patrick Ruganintwali is taking his painting pastime seriously - he has opened his sole art exhibition at Papyrus in Kimihurura.

An exhibition of contemporary portraits on ‘Rwandan traditional dance’, started on February 12, and will run until March 12.

The month-long exhibition, entitled ‘Love What You Do’ features striking paintings of Ruganintwali’s art works, and the exhibition contains 50 portraits. At the show, the least painting is sold at $50, while the most expensive goes for $1200.

He says: "I chose the theme to encourage people to love and take what they do seriously. If you feel a passion for something, you can move mountains."

The gallery is open everyday. However, Ruganintwali says most people visit on the weekends.

He has been dabbling in art for the last six years and his first art exhibition was in 2005 at Legend Bar in Kiyovu. Since then, the passionate painter has organised various exhibitions and has been putting his paintings on a public display.

And Ruganintwali, 26, also a fashion designer, insists his love for art runs deeper than his interest in designing and anything else.

However, the show has enabled him to combine his love for fashion and his artistic ability. He loves portraiture and most of his work involves people, animals and birds.

The self-taught painter says that it was during his senior six (S.6) vacation that he felt inspired to develop his talent and he now has a prolific portfolio of paintings.

"My dream is to take my art creations to the international level. And through my art, I will be portraying my country to the world map –countries have to know about the new Rwanda,” Ruganintwali adds.

His greatest inspirations in the field are locally well-known visual artists, Epaphrodite Binamungu and Collin Sekajugo, among others.

Ruganintwali is in his final year at the Rwanda Tourism University College (RTUC), where is pursuing a degree in Travel and Tourism management.

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