New art exhibition on promoting Africanism

The ongoing collective art exhibition “African Is Me” which was organised by two visual artists, David Peace Mugire and Bless Jovial Hirwa, aims at reminding Africans and humans in general about the brightest intellect and natural ability as well as intelligence they hold can be utilized to solve some challenges and obstacles Africa faces. It kicked off on Sunday, May 22 and will conclude on May 28, at L’Espace, an art space located at Kacyiru, Kigali. The two exhibitors graduated from Nyundo School of Art, but they came up with the project that depicts Africa when they were still in school. Mugire said they had a discussion about Africa and what it means to be an African which fueled their inspiration to start an exhibition featuring different Africans, their historical backgrounds, their wisdom and how that can be interpreted to solve some problems the continent is facing. The exhibition features 16 artworks, eight being Mugire’s and are characterised by the black colour resulting from a black pen he used to present the beauty of Africa although some artists still consider black colour as a symbol of evil. Through his artworks, he also inserts papers that entail writings which he said are descriptions of his works, adding that it gives them a beautiful appearance and attracts viewers. “I can take a lot of history and express it in one artwork. I take a lot of ideas and put them on paper in my works,” he said. Through the exhibition, he expects the people, especially Africans, to learn the history of different African people. places, heritage, principles as well as values and find a way they can solve their problems by using what they have. He also revealed that it is going to be followed by a series of other exhibitions as part of their project of promoting Africanism. Blaise Hirwa, his fellow artist is exhibiting 10 artworks that he said depicts the beauty, culture and strength of Africans. He revealed that he and Mugire had always put Africa at the forefront of their art because it was their inspiration which compelled them to do the project. Mounted next to each artwork being exhibited is its description, an idea Hirwa said helps a visitor get more details about an artwork in case the artist is not around to explain. In his artworks, he uses a black background, which he said portrays how proud he is of being black. He also uses a gold and blue colours in his artworks which for him as a symbol of peace and freedom. He too expects the exhibition to help visitors know and understand how good, strong and beautiful Africans are. Cadeau Divine Dushime who attended the exhibition said she has experienced new things she didn’t know including the beauty, nature and culture of Africa and how they can be used to develop the continent. “As an African, I learned that I have the ability to do something new to attract people from other continents to come to Africa,” she said. Dushime urged artists to do other exhibitions and invite non-Africans to come and see how Africa is good as well as to keep their craft revolving on Africa. Pacifique Iradukunda, another exhibition attendee, said he loved creativity portrayed in the artworks with everything looking new and exciting, adding that the fact that the exhibitors are young is unbelievable. He added: “I’ve learned that if you pay attention to African things, you realise they are so good. We shall love our things and be creative because everything here is full of creativity.” Iradukunda also urged the artists to keep blessing people’s eyes with more beautiful artworks.

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New art exhibition on promoting Africanism