Rwandan artifacts can boost tourism

Editor, Refer to Joseph Rwagatare’s article, “A plea for conservation of culture” (The New Times, February 24). I indeed agree with Mr. Rwagatare! Our culture and its history “should be reflected, not only in our hearts and folklore, but also in physical landscape that we can create”. Let me remind your esteemed readers that a physical landscape created by humans is not limited to monuments and parks. Our homes are also landscapes of another sort, other dimensions, and other uses. They are portions of a land in which we live, with the help of other kinds of smaller portions of space, all the daily use artifacts, both physical (e.g. a chair) and symbolic (e.g. a piece of music). And it is the sum of all the artifacts in a portion of a physical space that constitute a culture, and their evolution in time makes the history of any given people. With this kind of insight, mere ‘conservation’ of those artifacts and recounts of historical narratives wouldn’t be enough. Rather, we ought to be reviving those artifacts and narratives to help us live better our actual daily lives. For years, those artifacts have indeed proven to be the best means to live better, both in our interior and exterior spaces. A Rwandan traditional chair or stool has proven to be ergonomically fit to the bodies of users; and for instance, “Bene Imana” exhilarates all Rwandan hearts, with all the physiological, psychological, and social benefits eventually resulting. Just like, probably more than walking above Nyungwe Forest Canopy... Why then, instead of idle “conservation”, shouldn’t we keep actively using those artifacts in our daily lives, at home, at work, in leisure, and not simply relegating them to museums, historical sites, and folkloric curios? Francois-Xavier Nziyonsenga

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Rwandan artifacts can boost tourism