Local painter Isaac Irumva on Friday, December, 17 opened a 12-day art exhibition dubbed ‘Visage’ at Sawa city supermarket building in Remera sector, during which he looks forward to sharing the best of his art works as well as the artworks of five curated artists with art lovers in Kigali. Visages Art Exhibition showcases 15 artworks of the five curated artists displayed on the walls each with its specific description and will close its doors on December,28. Many people walked in, out of curiosity, to see what was happening in the building because some colorful paintings and installations could be seen through the glass windows. There are very few spaces designed to accommodate visual art exhibitions in Kigali. Most exhibits take place in art galleries, hotels, coffee shops, or art-related institutions. Space is very crucial when it comes to planning an exhibition because the showcase of an artist is always in response to what kind of space is available. Thus, the two have to come together. Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, the curators of this art exhibition successfully found an ideal space: the design of the building, the displays, the lighting, and the concepts embedded in the art-works, perfectly matched the theme of the exhibition – “Visage” a French word that is loosely translated as ‘Faces’. Talking to Irumva at the exhibition space, he said that this art exhibition is a result of his own journey as a local painter and how artists at large identify themselves in the society but most importantly how they reflect themselves in the society. “An artist like anyone else for that matter, has the agency to determine what their work addresses and the role they want to play in the society,’’ he says. One of by Brave Tangz’s artworks. / Courtesy The curator says he hopes to showcase the many sides of an artist during this exhibition, “artists are only human beings too. Here are some of their faces. And the way everyone expresses himself. The main subject we want to focus on is mental health, we want to spread a healing message to Rwandans .’’ Iirumva continued to explain that at this exhibition curated five visual artists named Antoine Izere, Christian King Dusabe, Brave Tangz, and Junior Mudahunga among others. “I wanted to explore different sources of inspiration, artistic processes and personalities as well. Even though we are all artists doing art, we have different triggers, styles and of course different things we want to address or express a specific issue,’’ he recalls. He revealed that the main objective of this exhibition is to break the stigma around the art industry and how this affects players in it. “In the Rwandan community, art is seen as a craft that is very limited. It is limited in the subjects it can address, in the forms it can take as well as in the financial gains it can gain. During this exhibition I wanted to break all those boundaries especially through addressing mental health issues that affected many due to the disruptions that covid-19 has caused,’’ he shares. The artist also highlighted that their exhibition has started to reach its success due to the positive feedback they have received. “This exhibition made me overcome my personal issues I used to have. People underestimated me because I am handicapped and it made me realise that I have value too. The fact that I am different and I can do my things and be better in my own way,’’ recalls Ryan Mugisha, one of the exhibition attendants. Among this future plans, Irumva plans to keep doing many artworks that address mental health issues as he believes it is a huge subject that also needs much attention and to be addressed more than it is done nowadays.
