Arts for peace exhibition tour on

As part of activities to mark the 20th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the National Commission for the fight against Genocide (CNLG), in partnership with Aegis Trust Rwanda has launched a Kwibuka20 National Arts Tour set to cover ten districts. The exhibition was launched this week at Glory SS in Gasabo District. It is headed to Huye District this weekend. The exhibition features 15 drawings and 15 poems selected during the National School Arts Competition, held in April 2014, and 40 other collaborative artworks created by young Rwandans at an ‘Art for Peace’ workshop held in Kigali in the same month. Speaking at the Gasabo launch, Freddy Mutanguha, the country director of Aegis Trust Rwanda, urged young people to use their talent to develop the country. “When the Genocide happened, most of you were not yet born but you are affected by its consequences. You have to play your part to transform the country,” Mutanguha said. Jean de Dieu Kagenza, the director of Glory SS, said the exhibition gives Rwandans a chance to see the artworks crafted by young people around “Remember, Unite, Renew”, the theme for the 20th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Participants are given a chance to discuss the message behind the artifacts. One of the poems featuring in the exhibition is entitled; “The sparkle of the sun,” which was voted second best in the National School Arts Competition. It was written by Amina Umuhoza, 18. Sharing her experience with hundreds of young people, she said the poem is her biggest contribution towards peace building and unity in society having been born after the Genocide. This exhibition takes two days before it moves to the next location. The ten districts taking part in the exhibition, that will go up to August, include Gasabo, Nyarugenge, Nyamagabe, Huye, Musanze, Gicumbi, Gatsibo, Nyagatare, Rubavu and Rusizi.