Meet Epaphrodite Binamungu, an artist thriving from his gift

Whereas it is a widely held view that fine art is a talent that is shaped by going through higher institutions of learning it’s also correct that others train and become good artists on their own. Many companies and employers look at academic qualifications in order to accept you as an artist. So you have to prove yourself by presenting academic qualifications. If you are only gifted with the art and never attended training, it will be very hard to get a good job. It becomes harder when you are required to submit your academic transcripts using the online system. But how perfect or excellent is that artist who holds the academic papers to one with experience right from child hood. Starting art work at an early age, Epaphrodite Binamungu decided to become self employed and has fruitfully earned a living out of it. Although he concedes that he is not professional in the field, he has achieved a lot from it. “I never went to school to study art but I have managed to work in the field and achieved a lot from it based on my commitment,” he says. “It was easier for me to draw a picture of something other than writing its name. I also had a belief that people could understand easily when they look at the image other than the writing. This kind of thing made me realize that I had more chances in drawing, painting and designing than writing,” recalls Binamungu. He explains that he started perfect art work far back while in DR Congo, but finally decided to settle in Rwanda. “I had my first exhibition in 1973 while in DR Congo”. Explaining how he started work in Congo, he says that he attracted many people when he started the idea of investing in exhibitions. He reveals that it was an invention in that particular business in DR Congo. “Many came to see what exactly I produce in the business. It was expensive, but appealing,” he notes. He says that through the exhibition, he won many customers adding that “this forced me to hold more than three exhibitions a year”. The exhibitions enabled many to know more about his work and location as well as costs of his products. In 1994, Binamungu came to Rwanda. He points out that establishing his business was not easy as compared to when he set up in DR Congo. “It took me time to establish this business. I started by holding exhibitions in hotels. I could convince hotel owners and pay them to have these exhibitions,” says Binamungu. The artist could occasionally organize with hotel owners to invite people to view his products. In that process he could get some customers as well as making contact with them. His business continued in that direction until 2002 when he managed to establish an art gallery ‘Inganzo art gallery’ at KBC. In his art work having employed the exhibition drive, the artist has managed to attend collective and individual exhibitions around the region and beyond. He explained “I joined many exhibitions in an effort to search for more knowledge in art work in order to maintain and improve the quality of my goods. This was significant in making contacts with people in the same business because it helped me in sharing challenges in the business”. He reveals that he attended exhibitions in Germany, Switzerland and France, between 2000 and 2008. His latest exhibition was late April this year at his art gallery under the theme “Stopover”. Binamungu says that having been in the art work for over 35 years, he decided to get the art design from life in the water. Basically he focused on the fish, the freedom it enjoys with all other related animals in the water. “Many ideas came into my mind about life in the water relating to life people have on earth, if people also enjoy freely with others, it’s as wonderful as it is in the waters,” he said. He has participated in different art competitions and won awards. He participated and was awarded for best performance in painting of “Art for peace” in Rwanda from 2006 to 2008, Logo of Panafrica Conference in Kigali in 1997 among others. This made Binamungu to believe that art work is more of a talent than a professional. “I am now convinced that art work is a talent which can only be shaped by attaining schools for training. It’s therefore basing on that, that I believe since its a talent, if someone is not gifted with it, he might not perform as well as one who has the talent even when he under goes a training,” he says. The artist is aiming at helping up-coming artists, mostly those who have the talent but failed to go for shaping by encouraging them and proving to them how possible it is to excel. He says that another mission he feels he should accomplish is making Rwanda a meeting place for artists in East Africa, to share challenges in the business, using the help of the already established relations with others in the region. Ends