When you enter Izihirwe Art House, you are met by colour everywhere, art piece in the making, and young people busy mixing and putting a finishing touch to them. Inside the house, Antoine Izere and Girbert Ngendahayo are busy finalising portraits, which they will sell to individuals and hotels to make money. The two fell in love with art at a very early age and they started practicing it. Today as adults, they are making money from what was their childhood passion. Girbert Ngendahayo, 26, said that at the time his parents didn’t understand why their son should focus on drawing and making portraits. They wanted him to pay attention to other fields which they thought were more rewarding. Ngendahayo said since he was a child, he was talented in art and his teachers used to notice it. “I used to draw class drawings at school like the skeleton, body organs and parts of plants, among other things. However, I didn’t do art as an option in secondary school or at the university,” he said. Another portrait by Ngendahayo displayed at Izihirwe Art House. When he completed his university studies, he received a short course on making portraits and because he was fond of it, he decided to do it professionally. “In high school I did construction while at university I did Cinematography. However, none of what I pursued in school was my dream profession. When I got an opportunity to be trained by an American artist on how to make professional portraits, I went for it and I decided to make it my first job,” he said. Today, he makes at least Rwf250, 000 a month, depending on the season but in a good month he makes more. His target is to make his art more lucrative. Ngendahayo urged parents to support their children to do what they love the most because any career or job can be profitable, if it is done professionally with passion, rather than forcing children to do what they don’t like. “See where I am today. My parents didn’t understand that making portraits would bring me some money. But one day, I made an exhibition and I invited them. When they saw how people were interested in my work, they immediately changed their mind. Now they support me,” he said. For Izere, 22, he got the support of his parents when he decided to pursue his passion. When he completed his O’Level, he was able to pursue a course in Ceramic arts at Nyundo School of Art and Music. He then decided to put his skills to work. Today, Izere makes at least Rwf300,000 per month through selling his art pieces. Izere said the portraits they make together with his colleague convey a message of humanity, social norms and a message to people to live together in peace and harmony. “For example, I have one portrait of a mother holding her baby which symbolises the endless love a mother can have for her children which is priceless. The others show the African culture, some of the works characterise Africa and humanity,” he said. The duo, however, says they still face challenges. Ngendahayo said Rwandans are not yet used to buying art products and their buyers are mainly foreigners, especially tourists and expatriates who want to go back home with Rwandan souvenirs. Antoine Izere looks at his painting of a sweet smiling little girl. Photos by Marie Anne Dushimimana. “It is not even a matter of cost, it is just that Rwandans are not used to it. However, with time, we have hope that they will find the importance of having meaningful art products in their houses. Art in a house is as important as any other house item, like TV set, curtains and others,” he said. Izere said Rwandans should understand that portraits and other art products add value to their homes. “It is meaningful to have art products at home. Whether it is a portrait of a family member who passed on or an artwork just recalling a certain important event in the family, they add value to life. A house looks different with artwork and it’s about time Rwandans started warming up to art,” he said.
