Ingabo Corner as a creative hub and art space recently organised a series of events as a way to celebrate women’s achievements under the theme ‘March of Women’. The events are fully dedicated to women in various creative fields, celebrating their courage, sacrifice and resilience, as well as their power in all they do. During an interview, King Ngabo, the founder and creative director of the hub, said he thought about the march as a way to correspond with Women’s Day, celebrated March 8. “I personally think that one day is not enough. A woman should always be celebrated on a daily basis since she is the heart of society,” he said. Ingabo Corner, which also has a coffee shop and restaurant, provides creative education through their art gallery, as they teach art and drawing to people of all ages. King Ngabo, founder and creative director of Ingabo Corner. Every Sunday, they have poetry night, and ‘Ingabo WiseTalks’ every Thursday, where they host people from various fields who share their journey as a way to inspire the audience. Ngabo says that in organising this series of events to celebrate the power of women in general, they specifically focused on different creative fields and careers. Those who were selected are not the most successful per se, rather, they are young women who have gotten out of their comfort zones to pursue their dream career and are now on the right track and can inspire and motivate others. When this started during the first week of March, Gloria Girabawe, the founder of Flove (a small start-up which produces eco-friendly bags, also known as tote bags) and Fidele Umuhoza Rugema, the founder of Umutako Wooden Art (a company that makes modern wooden art crafts for home decoration), were hosted. In an interview with The New Times, Rugema said, “Providing this platform for young entrepreneurs is motivation and confirmation that society needs what we do, as well as understanding all we go through to be creative enough and deliver the best.” Yves Nkubito who attended the first session shared with this publication that it was amazing to listen to the women who have been through a lot till today. “We learnt a lot about the different ways that one can get success. We got to ask questions and so we can professionally follow our dreams too,” Nkubito said. On International Women’s Day, Christiane Bukuru and Andersonne Uwineza, both musicians, were invited to share their views on how aspiring female artistes can be successful in their journey, and they also shared the challenges they face and how they overcome them. Yesterday, a photographer and journalist were invited. Ruth Niyonkuru, the photographer, shared her views, “This means a lot to me and it is proof that people notice what we do and like it. It is such a huge platform to explain the passion I have for my career. We all need this kind of encouragement to get to our full potential.” The author and founder of Imagine We Rwanda, Dominique Uwase, is expected to share her journey on March 17, and she revealed that seeing a young man like Ngabo thinking about such events is such an amazing move.
