Rwandans with gifted hands have a reason to smile. They will be happy to know of the “Open Up for a Creative Society” a new and exciting initiative aimed at bringing together creative Sweden and Rwandans is up and running.
At a workshop that ran between September 24th-25th,dubbed “Sweden@Rwanda”, the initiative was officially launched. The ultimate objective was to explore the potential , the creative sector holds in terms of its significant contribution to the Rwandan economy.
The two-day workshop was held at the rooftop of Kigali Public Library (KPL) at Innovation Village. The event attracted creative designers, artists, filmmakers and many more categories of players in the creative industry.
Indeed, the gifted Rwandans; whether individuals, groups or business undertakings now stand a great chance of enhancing their creativity. Definitely, the initiative will see even more Rwandans employed in the creative sector when they get to explore their hidden creative talents.
It is an open opportunity to all Rwandan artists and artisans as presented by the Swedish Institute and the Embassy of Sweden in Rwanda. A number of activation were showcased by players including; presentations, panel discussions, working labs and creative inputs. Deliberations centered on how to boost the creative sector underpinning; education, Cultural Mapping, Creative Communications and Cross-disciplinary collaboration.
In attendance was a cross section of dignitaries representing the creative sector, government stakeholders, members of the private sector, international partners and non-governmental organisations.
On his part, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Sweden in Rwanda, Maria Håkansson remarked that promoting the Rwandan creative sector will strengthen the bilateral trade ties between Sweden and Rwanda for mutual economic benefits.
“Sweden and Rwanda are both small countries with small populations, and we share the ambition and desire to grow our creative industries to play a big role in the economy and contribute to job creation and exports. We wish to broaden the bilateral collaboration between Sweden and Rwanda and use this opportunity for creative stakeholders from both countries to learn and inspire from each other, form collaborations and take action towards building a strong creative economy”, Ms. Maria was quoted as saying.
She added that the two-day workshop provided a great opportunity for Rwandans especially the youth to learn as well as give inputs.
Representing the government of Rwanda, Director of Sports in the Ministry of Sports and Culture, Mr. Bugingo Emmanuel underscored the importance of creative sector in upholding the rich Rwandan culture. “Culture is dignity of a country, it should be protected and through it there can be many ways to create job opportunities”.
IGIHE had time off to talk to a number of the participants on what they thought about the initiative.
Ms. Joy Mboya the Executive Director of a Kenyan-based art business called Go down Arts Center encouraged Rwandan artist to be passionate and resilient. “We created this center expecting no money but it was just passion of art, if we had focused on money we wouldn’t have reached this far but as long as you love what you do, money just flows in”.
To Mr. Regis Gatarayiha, the Head of ICT department at Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the platform was an eye opener of the diverse opportunities it presents to Rwandan economy. “I had never explored why creativity is so important until I closely followed today’s shared experiences. Indeed, culture is not simply an important sector to Rwanda’s economy; it is also a social software”.
On the other hand, Robert Nilsson, the deputy director at the Ministry of Culture in Sweden warned that creative sector will need effective advocacy. “It is critical that we as policymakers listen to creative voices in Sweden, Rwanda and everywhere else”.
Mr. Eric Kabera, founder of Kwetu Film Institute and an active cultural activist remarked: “More and more people are realizing that the creative economy has the potential of being a key element for both human and capital growth in Rwanda. We hope to bring awareness to the creative sector, engage private and public stakeholders and really move some agendas”.
At the end of a busy Sweden@Rwanda creative workshop participants were entertained by lyrics and sweet melodies of Swedish artist Fatima and a couple of Rwandan artists including Angel Umutoni, Eric 1Key and Iyadede at Inema Arts Centre.
Brendah Kalinda
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