AFTER REALISING that most of the girls are still afraid of expressing their opinions and abilities, 23-year-old Diane Ishimwe started using her art of poetry and painting to help them come out of their shells and bring the best out of themselves. The young poetess and visual artist crafts artworks and poems that prove to other girls that they can do great things as men do and is passionate about helping them to thrive. One of her artworks titled “You better cry alone than letting somebody feel your pain too” depicts a crying mother with a happy child where the mother was not strong enough to let go of the pain that was meant to destroy her but was strong enough to remember who she was and to change her reflection. Illustration of Igisare Batinya, her poem that was awarded in Youth Challenge Program. “That shows how a woman deals with sadness without affecting other people negatively,” narrated Ishimwe. “As women, we have the power to endure the circumstances on our own not because we cant get somebody else to handle them but because we know, we all have superwomen inside of us.” The graduate in Graphic Art at Ecole D’art De Nyundo said that her experience in the creative industry has so far empowered her with a higher sense of creativity and self-motivation, especially in poetry and visual art. She started writing poems in 2016 when she was in high school. One of her friends taught her some tips on how she could structure a poem and convinced her to express herself through short poems regarding how she saw things differently. “I discovered my talent through people. I used to write quotes in my diary on different issues that were associated with my society and lifestyle and whenever someone read them, they would suddenly get convinced with my expressions. As a result, I came to realise that I might have a writing talent,” she said. Ishimwe revealed that her inspiration comes from different angles of the journey of life, adding that she loves poetry because it gives her freedom to express her feelings and thoughts the way she wants them to be expressed as well as to grow mentally and spiritually. You better cry alone than letting somebody feel your pain too - one of Diane Ishimwe’s artworks. “Poetry helps me to perfectly understand,” she continued. “How to manage opportunities and obstacles as well as being creative in everything I do.” Her poem titled “Igisare Batinya” was awarded in the Youth Challenge Program organised by the Ministry of Youth and Culture in the category of 20-25 young poets. It talks about the challenges and struggles people faced throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. She has also crafted an artwork that tells the same story. She revealed that winning the competition has highly empowered and motivated her to do more poems. Her other poems include “Psychopath which won first place in Brain Awareness Week campaign in Rwanda that was organised by Oli Health Magazine, Strange in My Own Home and Survivor. Through his artistic journey, Ishimwe has improved her writing and painting skills and has made great connections with other artists. Moreover, she has won awards and received certificates which strengthened her experience and will usher her to any supportive door in the future. As a young female poetess who is still building her career, the challenge she is facing is to understand better how the art industry works. However, she plans to use both painting and poetry to make a better world by expressing her feelings and thoughts to the world and making a living out of them. She can be found via E-mail: ishimwed90@gmail.com, YouTube Channel: @dianakod and Instagram:@di.dikod/didikod.official
