An emerging network of artists in Rwanda is working to promote Eco-entrepreneurship in a bid to contribute toward sustainable development. The creativity and innovation to turn different types of waste into valuable products such as decorations is done through ‘upcycling’. Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value. “Upcycling is a new concept in Rwanda. The idea focuses on using what is around us to create opportunities. In our eco-arts project, we want to collect glass bottles, plastic bags, leftover fabric and other waste that would end up filling landfills or floating in sea, have them in the hands of artists and turn them into valuable things. It becomes a form of sustainable art,” said Fiacre Mutabazi, an Eco-Social Activity Entrepreneur. The hub seeks to empower creative artists with different business skills including digital marketing tools. Photos: Courtesy. Mutabazi is also the Founder of Kunda Arts Collective, a social organisation that aims to promote sustainable development through partnering with local artists. The entrepreneur said that the conservation art project started by collecting empty wine bottles normally considered as waste to most people and training artists on transforming them into artistic and colorful decorations by creating home décor. He said that the artists collect used straws and train kids on transforming them into home décor by making the straws more colorful and turning them into art pieces. He said that leftover fabrics are also turned into art pieces. The startup promotes Eco-entrepreneurship. “The artists collect parts of clothes from different tailors. Together with the kids, they create pieces of art which can be used as decoration at home. The leftovers of Kitenge fabric can be used to add value and design to different clothes. We open space for artists to express their arts and do research,” he noted. Cultural entrepreneurship lab “We have also launched a cultural entrepreneurship lab, a move supported by the German Embassy and StAfrica project, Goehde foundation to empower creative artists with different business skills including digital marketing tools among others,” he said. He said that the art business incubation space could help artists to turn their creativity into a source of income and create more jobs. “We believe Artists will be equipped with enough business skills to go beyond and value their artworks because we do not need artists who survive, we want artists who can turn their creativity into a source of income and provide more jobs,” he said. Katharina Hartwing, Co-Founder of Kunda Arts, Project lead of the StArfrica Project by University of Rwanda and University of Koblenz-Landau said that digital marketing among the artists is needed especially during these difficult times of Covid-19 pandemic. “There are a lot of artists in Rwanda and we want to bring them together, not like a Union but as an empowered team and the more they are connected, the more they become stronger. So, we want to give them a kind of a voice and so they become more professional,” She said.
