Edito
« Inganzo », the bay of clay
The Rwandan imagination uses the symbolism of excavation to describe the work of artists. Their resource – inspiration – bears the same name as the bay of clay and the quarry from which the potter and the blacksmith obtain their raw material : “Inganzo”. They shape works which are both the product of know-how and the materialization of the spirit.
This first edition of the Kigali Triennial will bring together artists who share the same field of research and observation, in a way the same bay/Inganzo. The program is largely pan-African with artists from across the continent. Particular attention is paid to emerging artists and creators who, through their research in theater, dance, visual arts, music, cinema, literature, design, digital arts, fashion, design and culinary arts, show an African, but also a feminine and generational perspective. The program also welcomes several artists from four European countries (Belgium, France, Italy and the UK), as well as two from the Middle East (Syria and Lebanon).
We designed this Triennial as a place of convergence. A meeting place for all art forms with the aim of breaking down barriers between them, finding bridges and rethinking the relationship between works and audiences. Several off-site presentations are planned in the car-free zones of Kigali as well as inside the country in more remote natural spaces, such as the Twin Lakes at the foot of volcanoes in Musanze, or Rubavu, on an island of Lake Kivu, where artists will propose hybrid forms in collaboration with fishermen.
The Kigali Triennial is also a place of convergence between the arts and other knowledge, between the world of thought and that of the sensitive, between aesthetic and fundamental research. The program includes around ten conferences and twenty training courses.
It is with pleasure that we invite you to Kigali for the first edition of the Triennial, from February 16 to 25, to meet a generation of artists who are not only questioning the present and dreaming the future, but also inventing it.
Dorcy Rugamba, Artistic Director of the Kigali Triennial
Sophie Kabano, Producer of the Kigali Triennial
About us
The Kigali Triennial, organized by the Rwanda Arts Initiative (RAI) art center, the Kigali City Hall and the Ministry of Arts and Youth, will take place from February 16 to 25, 2024. This major pan-African event focused on literature, theater, dance, music, cinema, fashion, digital arts, gastronomy, and design aims to highlight the vitality of the Rwandan scene, to professionalize the art market and to establish Kigali as a cultural capital. Over 200 artists from 25 countries will perform through 60 shows.
A showcase of “African excellence”: this is the key word of the Kigali Triennial, a partnership between RAI and Kigali City Hall, to be launched on February 16, 2024. Music, theater, dance, literature, fashion, design and gastronomy will be on the program for this major artistic event, which will take place over 10 days, with over two hundred African and international artists performing.
The first objective of the Kigali Triennial is to highlight the Rwandan cultural scene, animated by several generations of inspired artists in all fields. The challenge, which has been that of RAI since its creation, evolves around the professionalization of this very dynamic scene, and its insertion into the global arts market.
This meeting, which will take place every three years, will also allow Kigali, a polyglot crossroads and the third most visited city in Africa for its conferences, to shine as a cultural capital.
Paired curations
Curations in pairs, associating in each field a big name and a Rwandan artist, will allow all areas of creation to be explored: the musical program will for example be concocted by the Burundian singer Kadja Nin and the Rwandan musician Hervé Twahirwa, while the visual arts will be led by Malick Ndiaye, the former artistic director of the Dakar Biennale, and the young Rwandan visual artist Mucyo. In charge of cinema: the French-Rwandan movie maker Sonia Rolland and Rwandan actress Isabelle Kabano, who notably played the main role in the film “Petit pays” based on the novel by Gaël Faye.
From February 16 to 22, cultural professionals will be invited to Kigali, in the presence of 200 programmers from Africa, Europe and the United States. Forums will be organized around the works, as well as training workshops and “masterclasses”, given by experienced artists in several disciplines.
The public will also be invited to attend plays, musical readings, concerts, parades and exhibitions, from February 16 to 25 in around ten different places in Kigali.
The Kigali Triennial is placed under the artistic direction of Dorcy Rugamba, author, actor and director, founder, and director of Rwanda Arts Initiative. The production of the Triennial is ensured by Sophie Kabano, who will also curate the design part with Bineta Cissé.
