{"id":56516,"date":"2025-12-10T16:38:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T16:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/beyond-the-stage-kigali-s-creative-cafe-advances-inclusion-and-creative\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T16:26:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T16:26:01","slug":"beyond-the-stage-kigali-s-creative-cafe-advances-inclusion-and-creative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/beyond-the-stage-kigali-s-creative-cafe-advances-inclusion-and-creative\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Stage: Kigali\u2019s creative caf\u00e9 advances inclusion and creative entrepreneurship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Organised in partnership with Intore Entertainment and Kontent, with support from NUDOR, the event featured a fireside chat, exhibitions, and interactive sessions facilitated by renowned cultural curator Mary Maina. It was hosted alongside the Davido 5ive Alive Tour Kigali as part of a broader effort to elevate East Africa\u2019s creative industry.<\/p>\n<p>The event aimed to highlight opportunities within Rwanda\u2019s fast-growing creative economy, with a focus on fashion, entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and financial literacy. Chief Guest, the Minister of State for Youth and Arts, Sandrine Mutoni, emphasised the government\u2019s commitment to supporting youth-driven creative enterprises and inclusive cultural development.<\/p>\n<p>Key speakers included Matthew Rugamba, Founder of House of Tayo, and Troy Elimu, Founder of Denim Cartel, who shared insights on growing fashion brands in African markets, brand storytelling and authenticity, business discipline, financial literacy, and intellectual property protection. They also discussed the challenges and opportunities for scaling local creative enterprises.<\/p>\n<p>In collaboration with NUDOR, the event showcased Futured Exhibitions, featuring creative works by artists and entrepreneurs with disabilities. Performances by children from the Sherrie Silver Foundation further highlighted the importance of inclusion and the wealth of underrepresented talent in the creative sector.<\/p>\n<p>Attendees included emerging creatives, designers, entrepreneurs, youth organisations, and ecosystem builders from across the East African region. Programming highlights included a networking breakfast, a fireside chat with leading fashion entrepreneurs, an exhibition walkthrough of disability-inclusive creative work, and peer-learning sessions fostering community building among creatives.<\/p>\n<p>SEEV AFRICA\u2019s Executive Director, Paul Atwine, highlighted the importance of creating platforms for East African creatives to connect, learn, and showcase inclusive talent.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Davido concert presented a perfect opportunity to convene East African creatives with and without disability for a peer-learning knowledge exchange, reinforcing its mission to elevate creativity as a driver of social impact and sustainable development,&#8221; Atwine remarked.<\/p>\n<p>This edition of Beyond the Stage built on a previous interactive creative caf\u00e9 held in August during the Giants of Africa festival closing concert. It featured renowned East African DJ and cultural icon, DJ Etania, and placed a special focus on women in the creative space.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99045 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny19.jpg\" alt=\"The event convened East African creatives with and without disabilities at Norrsken Kigali House on Friday, December 5, 2025.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99044 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny27.jpg\" alt=\"Attendees included emerging creatives, designers, entrepreneurs, youth organisations, and ecosystem builders from across the East African region. \" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99041 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny32.jpg\" alt=\"The creative caf\u00e9 featured a fireside chat, exhibitions, and interactive sessions facilitated by renowned cultural curator Mary Maina\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99039 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny45.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99046 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny18.jpg\" alt=\"Chief Guest at the event was Sandrine Mutoni (right), the Minister of State for Youth and Arts.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99048 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny15.jpg\" alt=\"SEEV AFRICA\u2019s Executive Director, Paul Atwine, highlighted the importance of creating platforms for East African creatives to connect, learn, and showcase inclusive talent.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99049 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny14.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99043 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny28.jpg\" alt=\"Matthew Rugamba, Founder of House of Tayo, was among the key speakers.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99042 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny31.jpg\" alt=\"Troy Elimu, Founder of Denim Cartel, also gave a presentation at the event.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99050 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny8.jpg\" alt=\"Children from the Sherrie Silver Foundation performed at the function.\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99040 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny35.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99039 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny45.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-99038 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/benny54.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beyond the Stage, a Creative Caf\u00e9 hosted by SEEV AFRICA, convened East African creatives with and without disabilities at Norrsken Kigali House on Friday, December 5, for a day of knowledge sharing, skills exposure, and industry networking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000099037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-56516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000099037,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/benny19logo.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/benny19logo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/benny19logo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/benny19logo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/benny19logo.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/benny19logo.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000099037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56516"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=56516"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=56516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}