{It was a colourful cocktail of performances and events when Impact Hub Kigali opened its doors to a full day of celebrating creativity and diversity at Saturday’s I am Kigali –Kreative Kigali event.}
From community art sessions, debate on Rwanda’s future music industry to fashion showroom, breakdancing, live music and theatre, Impact Hub set the stage for a wide range of creative pop-ups and inputs during the full-day Kreative Kigali event that took place in Kigali on Saturday June 25th.
Kreative Kigali, which came to life through a partnership between Impact Hub Kigali, IOM Rwanda and several creative organisations and individuals, was the second event in the line of initiatives under the I Am Kigali campaign. I Am Kigali aims to celebrate the innovation, cultural evolution and diversity transforming Kigali, and Saturday’s event put a spotlight on the rapidly evolving creative scene and the creative talents emerging in and around Kigali.
From the early Umuganda morning hours and up until nearly midnight, there were enough events and inputs lined up to stay entertained, challenged and amazed for the entire day.
Among the guests was Ambassador of The Netherlands to Rwanda, Frédérique de Man, who was happy to see a creative collaboration across genres: “This event is both fun, useful and important. So many things are happening in the creative sector in Rwanda, and a broad collaboration like this is very useful. It’s important to highlight the positive affects of a strong creative sector – it is economically and culturally wise to focus on growing it”, The Dutch Ambassador said at the rooftop of Impact Hub.
Kreative Kigali kicked off early morning when the community arts organisation KuremaKurebaKwiga hosted a participatory Arts Umuganda, where local artists and eager volunteers came together to create a colourful mural praising Kigali’s creative scene. In the early afternoon hours, Eric KarengeaKirenga Soul and Uwase Mutimura from Africorihosted a debate in Café Neo’s rooftop space about the future of Rwanda’s music industry in the digital era. Meanwhile, the floor below was buzzing with up-and-coming and established designers showcasing their couture creations, kitenge designs, jewelry and accessories in the Fashion Showroom featuring brands from Rwanda, Belgium and Kenya to name but a few.
Eric OneKey, acclaimed Rwandan poet and performer, took part in the event from the early Umuganda hours until the last bow of the performers in the late evening. And to him, events like this are important to make art and creativity more visible in Rwanda: “Through events like this, we open art and creativity up to people and to the city, and that’s a really important step in making people more comfortable around arts. And to me personally as an artist, it is very inspiring,” he said while finishing a poem on the community mural.
Before the evening fell, in between shopping, debating and painting, Moutcho, Makumbi Sound and the legendary Makanyaga made the crowd dance with energetic live music, before young rap artist Prime performed and Abatanguha crew, a group of talented break-dancers, took the floor and wowed everyone with their acrobatic and sophisticated moves.
As the evening’s grand finale, the AmizeroKompagnie received standing ovations for their thought provoking and highly entertaining theatre performance, Radio Play, which reflected onself-censorship and freedom of expression.
Buzzing on creative impressions from morning till evening, the Kreative Kigali audience and participants left Impact Hub’s community space after meeting a blend of Rwanda’s finest, upcoming and inspiring creative talent. And that was just what the organisers were aiming for:
“This event showcases the incredibly cohesive and talentedcreative community in Kigali. This is the first time to host such a variety of events and sessions in a single day, and I believe we accomplished exactly what we had hoped: To show the incredible creative spark that is in Kigali and in Rwanda”, said Jon Stever, co-founder of Impact Hub and an initiator of the I am Kigali campaign.
{{All photos by Alex Niragira}}
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