Bisangwabagabo on juggling music and graphic art
Thursday, January 07, 2021
Salomon Bisangwabagabo Sankara.

Salomon Bisangwabagabo Sankara is no shortage of creative talent.

Growing up, not only did he aspire to become a musician, an artist, comedian and basketball player; but he was also passionate about all these careers.

In order to do better, Sankara eventually settled with music and graphic art, which he does to earn a living.

Although he agreed that it isn’t easy to chase more than two dreams at a go, he still loves other careers and he always finds time to utilize his passion in those areas.

For graphic art, he said it all started while in lower primary. He recalled being given lots of homework but he would only find joy in the drawing part.

"In every school or class, there’s always someone who is a genius in drawing, I was that kid and I continued loving what I was doing till I joined Nyundo School of Art and Music.

A pen drawing by Sankara.

That is the same time I elevated my graphical art skills from just a hobby and passion to a career till now,” he said.

His graphical art is all about nature, people and the culture of Rwanda and Africa in general.

As for music, he loved singing and was part of a choir back in his church.

This, he said, helped him develop his vocals as he began finding music fun, sweet and relaxing.

Joining Nyundo School of Art and Music in 2014 was dream come true for Sankara as far as music and graphic art were concerned.

After school, he later joined a band in church known as God is Able Ministry, honing skills in vocals and music in general.

He cited that because of the experience from the band, in 2018, he was able to join a completion known as Art Rwanda Ubuhanzi, where he managed to reach the grand finals.

Art Rwanda Ubuhanzi is a nationwide talent search project implemented by Imbuto Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Culture and the Rwanda Academy of Language and Culture- with the aim of identifying and supporting young and talented Rwandans within the creative arts industry.

After being signed for different courses and gigs, Sankara started earning money from music and from there, he embarked on doing his own music as a solo artist.

Sankara noted that to balance the two careers, in a week, he takes four days to concentrate on graphical art and three days to do music.

"The beauty about my two careers is that music comes in as something that refreshes and relaxes my mind. Literally, while singing, to me it’s just one way of giving my mind a break from working,” he said.

He added that he focuses fusion music which helps him talk about what he feels, sees and revolves around other people as well.

Moving forward, he has so far recorded four new songs which are yet to be released. The songs are all about love and life.