TWO YOUNG RWANDAN visual artists Thierry Muhirwa and Family Love Nduwimana are looking to bring together their art brains in a joint art exhibition slated for August 12, at Ipfundo Art Gallery. The duo organised the art exhibition dubbed ‘Ngomibanje’ to express types of feelings, thoughts and or any idea a viewer would possibly hesitate to see. “It is an exhibition with disparate themes, in which one may be intrigued by ones art piece or another with no same proposition,” explained Nduwimana in an interview with The New Times. According to Nduwimana, the exhibition was named ‘Ngomibanje’ to manifest the merit of the word Ingoma itself since the early Rwandan monarchy. “It was a highly symbolic item for all Rwandans since the reign of the king. It served as the supremacy of the kingdom. It was also a crowd pleasing item for the Rwandans in ceremonies, till now,” he said. Regarding the art exhibition’s name, he said, it was to trigger the attention of insiders and foreigners in this country, to showcase the mastery of the Rwandan artists in this generation just as Ingoma, which is loosely translated as drum, was meant all along as a precious tool in the history of Rwandan society. He said gaining such an idea from him and his colleague was all that mattered to bring a uniqueness in exhibiting their art works. For almost all exhibitions ever launched, it was different art styles, same art themes” exhibitions that took place and so did they want to make a oneness in theirs, creating dissimilar themes and ideas in ones dissimilar art style so that each viewer could get close to any different artwork created and interpret it their way in line with their mood. “One with anxiety, or sadness could relieve him/herself by seeing a piece that could relax the viewer and change the mood,” Nduwimana explained. The two artists are also organising the exhibition with an intention to reveal how Rwandas new generation is capable of expanding art, as Rwanda was well known for abstract art with figurative and Imigongo designs. We want to prove the high presence of skills and vast experience into the modern world of contemporary art, he said.
