NYANZA – The first ever international arts exhibition in the country opens today at the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda (INMR) in the Southern Province.The four month exhibition will feature a number of local and international artists, and its opening today coincides with celebrations to mark the International Museum Day. The event, which is marked annually on May 18, will be celebrated under the theme, “Museums in a changing world. New challenges, New inspiration.s According to Alphonse Umuliisa, the Director General of INMR, the exhibition is in line with the day’s theme.He told a news conference on Wednesday that the exhibition will serve as a platform for local artists and “inspire the young generation of what Rwanda museums have to offer to the world in terms of culture, art and ways of showcasing our history.”Umuliisa noted that local artists have showed little interest in photography, observing that the exhibition might stimulate local individuals to venture into this field.“We want that in the future, Rwandans also exhibit their work around the world. We hope this exhibition will inspire new talents.”The exhibition will mainly feature photographs taken by two prominent international artists, Pieter Hugo from South Africa and Andrea Stultiens from the Netherlands.According to Umuliisa, many of the photographs, which are mainly the works of Hugo, have never been exhibited anywhere in the world. Many of them, which were shot in 2004, relate the Rwanda’s 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Rwandan artists, including Collin Sekajugo, the founder of Ivuka Arts, and Jean Baptiste Sebukangaga, will also take part in the exhibition.An exhibitor, Andrea Stultiens, observed that she was keen and interested “to get in touch and share with the public” and see how they react to her work.“I am really curious to get feedback from the public, how you and the audience will respond to this work.”Stultiens will be exhibiting her “Kaddu Waswa archive”, a recording of the life of a 79-years old Ugandan by the same name. Waswa documented his life by making photographs and conserving a variety of documents as vivid proof of all his activities and social waves during his lifetime until now. Stultiens later compiled his works into a book that was published in 2008. Apart from the reflection of the Ugandan as a family and community man, the collection also mirrors Uganda for the last 50 years.“When I started collecting photographs and other elements of my life, I did it as a hobby. But thereafter, I realised that I was building my history,” Waswa recollects.“You must play a role in building your history by preserving what you do, hear or see. At the end, time will come when you will be honoured as part of museums like this.”
