Last week, two internationally renowned muralists, namely American Benjamin Swatez and Canadian Azerine Amanda De Luca completed a week-long painting exercise of two large-scale murals, with traditional decorative patterns framing either side of the front entrance of Rwanda Arts Museum in Kanombe. The mural, which they painted alongside nationally recognized local paint artists Samuel Ishimwe Daddy and Louise Kanyange, was completed on Thursday, March 11, after four days and three hours working on it. National values such as unity, integrity, cultural and economic growth, and self-empowerment are conveyed through the composition that transcends time from pre-colonialism to aspiring dreams of the nation. The mural was, according to Swatez, painted after a series of brainstorming conversations with the museum management about the theme that they were going to paint to help people passing by be able to interpret the message (on the wall paint) based on the colors and symbols. “There was an initial conversation about the Genocide and what emerged from that experience,” Swatez told The New Times. Swatez explained that the mural gives a glimpse into the core values, ethics, and integrity of Rwandan culture while it also takes the audience through the pre-colonialism, the history, the pride, the integrity, hard work, expansion and the vision of the country in different periods of history. “We looked into all of these times in the timeline of Rwanda, the tough lessons, beautiful things that ever happened as well, and everything that has transpired from pre-colonialism to right now and the future,” he said. “From the other side, from the reconciliation, forward, what are the dreams, what are the hopes, the reactions and what are the efforts of each generation to come and can somebody be born 30 years from now and look at that wall and be able to reconnect with it? It was talking about ancestry, and also new vision and the actions to create that development,” he added. Swatez and Amanda have traveled the world sharing the power of creative therapy as a form of psychosocial support and jointly painted large-scale murals in 37 countries as part of their (just-concluded) project ‘Heart of Resilience’, teaching art and painting murals down the entire Congo River. They painted similar murals in Kenya, Tanzania and DR Congo. Before painting the murals, the duo would talk to the communities and gather information about what inspires them to get the right context of a mural they would be able to enjoy once they pass by the mural and have experience of the message it carries. “I think the beautiful part is the people and their reaction style. Some were like ‘oh cool!’ and others were like ‘what is that?’ but, at the end, everybody really enjoyed it and were really inspired,” Amanda spoke of her experience in DR Congo. “We’ve learnt so much about Rwandan history, about the current time and the future that everybody dreams or aspires to get to, and that’s how we figured out the composition,” she said. Inspiring local art talent During the mural painting exercise, Swatez and Amanda were joined by local painters Samuel Ishimwe Daddy, also known as Daddyism, and female painter Louise Kanyange, with whom they spent four days and three hours working on the mural. Besides the experience and doing arts as passion, Ishimwe said the week-long collaboration helped him learn from the muralists that art is more of passion than money as long as he is doing art for society. “With them, I have realised that sometimes you have to do art for people because the things we do are for selling and, in society, there are many people who cant afford those kinds of paintings but they need art in their lives, too,” Ishimwe said. Ishimwe is positive about the murals on the street where anyone who will just pass by will see the message on the mural. “You can pass by, take five minutes, go through the art and talk to that piece (of wall painting) and even if you’re sad, you will go home happy without paying,” he explained. Extending the exercise to more museums A similar mural had previously been painted at the Rwanda Ethnographic Museum located in Huye District, Southern Province, while the initiative could soon reach more museums across the country as part of adding momentum to a rising street art culture that adds to the quality of life for all citizens. According to Robert Masozera, the Director-General of Rwanda Culture Heritage Academy, the wall painting outreach programme will be extended to six remaining museums. “These mural paintings draw inspiration from the history and cultural heritage of Rwanda and we still have other six museums, we always have the strategy of what we want to take to each of them. Rwanda is not only attracting tourists but also becoming a country of creative arts where artists come and are inspired,” Masozera said.
