Members of the creative and showbiz industries are upbeat following a decision by a cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on Wednesday to allow a gradual reopening of events, concerts and public gatherings.
More than a year and half since the banning of concerts, exhibitions and other gatherings that brought people together, players in the industry are confident there is light at the end of the tunnel finally and look forward to full reopening.
"Other events and gatherings (concerts, festivals, exhibitions etc.) shall resume gradually for vaccinated and tested participants,” the cabinet decision reads, adding that Rwanda Development Board (RDB), will provide detailed guidelines.
Clément Ishimwe, CEO of KINA Music.
Though it is not yet clear how the reopening will be done, producer Clement Ishimwe of Kina Music says it means that there is hope that soon, lives will get back on track.
"It’s not easy spending almost two years with no source of income as events are our main source of income. I salute Rwandan artistes who fought hard to keep delivering even though it was very tough. I have so much faith in our industry based on what we were able to do in these difficult times and I believe that once everything is back to normal, we will recover,” Ishimwe says.
Breath of fresh air
Hope Azeda, the founder and artistic director of Mashirika Creative and Performing Arts and Media Company, a leading theatre company in Rwanda, says the cabinet decision is a timely one and calls for proper planning ahead of reopening.
"This is really a breath of fresh air. We will now plan better. The reopening also comes in time for our Shared Stories project, which is a collaboration between Bosnia, Germany and Rwanda. It’s been on hold since 2020 and only happening online,” Azeda says.
She adds that a crew of 10 artists will be arriving mid-September for a two-week stay ending with a performance on the 2nd at the amphitheatre of Kigali Genocide Memorial.
"We definitely can’t be any happier to have an audience be a witness of a great story,” she says.
Hope Azeda, the Director of Mashirika Performing Arts and Media Company.
Azeda’s sentiments are shared by saxophonist, Stella Tushabe, who also says that the news about concerts re-opening awakened hope in her.
"The past almost two years were brutal because of the imbalanced entertainment environment in the nation.
"But as exciting as the re-opening is, it still comes with uncertainties because the pandemic has equally bruised the main clients for performing artists (hotels), but we keep our hopes high for better days,” Tushabe tells Weekender.
Award-winning singer and Director of Rwanda School of Music and Creative arts, Jacques Murigande, aka Mighty Popo, believes this is a good opportunity to pick up the pieces.
"We are going to pick up where we left off. It doesn’t mean that it was easy then. It is just that we don’t give up too easily! For us festival organisers it means rushing everywhere we can find partners,” says Mighty Popo, who is also the organiser of KigaliUp, an annual music festival.
Limited sponsors
He believes the biggest challenge will be sponsorship because there is a limited number of sponsors, who also went through difficulties resulting from the pandemic.
"We all go to the same numbered partners; you can imagine how frustrated it gets, even government institutions that are in the event organisation business go to these same sponsors or partners,” he says.
Singer Alyn Sano, who managed to grow her brand during the pandemic period, says the gradual reopening is "such great news” to her, pointing out that it is also an opportunity for music lovers to get vaccinated.
Gospel singer Patient Bizimana says the cabinet decision really means a lot to him as an artiste "because it’s been a while without doing big celebrations of praise and worship with Rwandans through public gatherings.”
"I am really impressed by this step made by the cabinet about this issue. As one of the members of the Rwandan Gospel music industry, we are happy and thankful to God for this great news we’ve been indeed waiting for and missing,” Bizimana, who organises annual concerts, says.
New way of doing things
Bizimana’s views are shared by Raoul Rugamba, an event organiser and CEO of Africa in Colors, who also welcomed the cabinet decision, pointing out that the pandemic will leave behind new ways of doing things.
"It is a good thing for our businesses. For sure people are excited to come together once again, and it will be an interesting shift to hybrid events. The reopening will bring some new opportunities. Can’t wait to try out new things,” says Rugamba.
Following the decision to allow people in the Kigali Arena for the Afrobasket 2021 games, which also features musical performances at halftime, hopes are high that things could soon get back to normal.