slanted
rwanda
special
1
issue
Moshions House of Tayo Haute Baso Kigali Center for Photography Creative Communications Rwanda Kuuru Art Space Kurema Kureba Kwiga Concept Arts Studio Inema Arts Center Nelson Niyakire Chris Schwagga
2
Guillaume Sardin The Economist Lynn Harles Katharina Hey Abdi Latif Dahir Judith Kaine Carrolin DĂźrrenberg Silke Philipps-Deters Michael Nieden
made in rwanda 1
fashion art design photography welcome
moshions
MOSES TURAHIRWA 2 fashion designer
3 moshions –– moses turahirwa –– moshions.rw
4 moses turahirwa — moshions
5 moshions
house
tayo
MATTHEW RUGAMBA
fashion designer
of
11 house of tayo –– matthew rugamba –– houseoftayo.com
14 matthew rugamba –– house of tayo
15 house of tayo
22 pierra ntayombya –– haute baso
23 haute baso
kigali
center
for photography
JACQUES NKINZINGABO photographer and curator
31 kigali center for photography –– jacques nkinzingabo –– kigaliphotocenter.com
↑ Jayden –– Uwimana Jayden is 29. He had to drop out of university, where he was studying journalism, because his eyesight was too poor to keep up with assignments (poor eyesight is associated with Albinism due to lack of iris pigmentation). Jayden is a community advocate and young leader among PWA living in Northern Rwanda. “We just want people to know we are human beings,” he says of the community, “when people are stigmatized, they become withdrawn.” While Jayden, his wife, and their young daughter also live in vulnerable economic circumstances, Jayden donates his time and what money he has to advocating for other vulnerable community members. → Fabiora –– Ndihokubwayo Fabiora, 9, is involved with youth theater. While Fabiora dealt with bullying at school in primary school, she says now she has a positive relationship with her classmates. “They help me with notes,” she says, when she can’t see the board from her seat near to the teacher. Fabiora’s earlier primary school teachers didn’t encourage her learning, but she loves her current teacher who helps assist her complete class assignments. ↓ Sphorah –– Nyirabikari Sphorah, born in 1954, is one of the older members of the Albinism community here in Musanze District. Sphorah is a survivor of the genocide that took her husband and parents, and of loneliness. In this image, I asked Sphorah to take a pose that made her feel powerful. The result was interesting, as this pose generally means one is upset in Rwandan culture, but she stated it made her seem pensive—“Like I am wondering,” she said.
35 maggie andresen
48 niyonkuru bruce “canda”
49 niyonkuru bruce “canda” & manzi jackson — kuuru art space
58 judith kaine –– muntu621
59 kurema kureba kwiga
concept arts studio
TIMOTHY WANDULU 64 artist
65 concept arts studio –– timothy wandulu –– wandulutimothy.com
inema arts center
INNOCENT NKURUNZIZA artist and curator
73 inema arts center –– innocent nkurunziza –– inemaartcenter.com
haute
baso
NELSON
NIYAKIRE 82 artist
83 nelson niyakire –– @nelsonniyakire
92 chris schwagga
93 chris schwagga
2
Guillaume Sardin The Economist Lynn Harles Katharina Hey Abdi Latif Dahir Judith Kaine Carrolin DĂźrrenberg Silke Philipps-Deters Michael Nieden
essays about rwanda
EMBLEMS OF RWANDA
Guillaume Sardin
Emblems of Rwanda is an ongoing art and research project initiated by Guillaume Sardin. It aims to revive the lost tales of the country in a fresh yet deeply Rwandan aesthetic. Each emblem is an invitation to embark on an amazing journey into the thousand hills of the country and its prolific tales and stories Rwanda is rich in strong oral traditions made of tales and myths that are linked to the singular topography of the country, dominated by its hills, valleys, and rivers. Through them, it is as if every corner of this intricate landscape witnessed past epic adventures and small stories, like the nightly banquets of Nyarutarama in Kigali or the sacred water well of Butaro up North. Every tree, stream or mountain whispers a story. The mountain of Muhoza received its name from its peculiar shape that stops the rain, hence the meaning in the Kinyarwanda language; “the one that stops the crying,” a figure of speech for rain. Guillaume Sardin started discovering the beauty of these oral traditions, whether passed on to him during local gatherings, bonfires and the like, working with Rwandan ethnographic books and as a design teacher at the University of Kigali. Guillaume became a story collector. So far he has collected and mapped countless of them. As a designer, he wanted to create a palpable link between the country and its vanishing tales. Guillaume imagined a new visual language through the use of emblems. Each being a token as it were to a local tale. Each using traditional patterns brought forth by Rwandan decorative arts. In Ancient times, the patterns were a major component of daily life, jewelry, wickerwork, and wall art. They were named after their shapes or the
BUTARO
BIRENGA
RUSIZI
techniques used to create them. Emblems of Rwanda turns the patterns into logograms. In Rwanda, a pattern would be merely described as “elephant.” However, once it becomes a logogram, the pattern named elephant will actually mean elephant and so on. Inspired by proto-writing systems, the set of traditional patterns is enriched with new variations and custom designed pictograms to create limitless combinations and meanings. For example, the uruzi pattern takes its name in Kinyarwanda from the river. Combined with a circle, it will mean a well, rotated it will mean raining. A combination of logograms can now also tell a story and became an emblem for a place. For instance, there’s a place deep in the Nyungwe forest called Karimazovu, “the swamp that swallows elephants.” Now with this new visual language, we can represent it with three elements (logograms): the pattern for elephant used in mural art, one that means to destroy used on baskets, and a combination of patterns to represent a swamp. Over two hundred emblems have been transformed into unique emblems. They encapsulate a piece of the shared her itage of Rwanda. Each of them is a way to start a conversation between forgotten tales in today’s Rwanda. ‘Emblems of Rwanda’ aims to shed new light on this amazing heritage, that through economic development and well known tragic events has been slowly condemned to oblivion. The new visual language brings infinite possibilities; it can represent in all its playfulness the beauty of the Rwandan oral traditions, it can link the tales to the hills, valleys, and rivers that created them, it can invite new generations to share the stories whispered by the landscape they live in.
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NYARUTARAMA
KAGUGU
guillaume sardin –– guillaumesardin.com
KABAYA
MUGOGO
MUHOZA
RWANDAN WAYS OF THINKING: HOW TO USE CULTURAL DYNAMICS FOR SOCIETY-BASED INNOVATIONS
Lynn Harles
Working as a design researcher on the intersection of society-based future and inno vation research, I am often asked what I actually do all day long at work. Explaining my job seems to be a science in itself. It gets even more complicated when I tell people about my current research on innovation processes in non-western contexts (in Rwanda). It is not very uncommon that people presume I’m building schools and wells. Such a presumption is emblematic for our imperialistic patterns of thinking, which are still rooted in our subconsciousness. These worldviews do not fit the actual picture of Rwanda as a burgeoning African driver of innovation. If we—and that is the main part of my work—want to create radical and sustainable innovations, we need to rethink the way we see the world. It is time for a paradigm shift, in order to recognize innovations outside of the western world no longer as “third-world development,” but as culturally-driven ways of shaping the future. To do so, we need to renounce globalized definitions of innovation and visions of the future. Instead, we need to consider the diversity of
human cultures as a starting point for radical innovation and stop seeing it as a hurdle that needs to be passed. Current trends in Rwanda are showcasing how a rethinking could be approached. But first, let me return to the role of design research in this context: In recent years, science and economics recognized that linear and technologycentered innovations that are developed in the Ivory Tower and do not involve societal needs, have incrementally low societal acceptance. For this reason, novel approaches, such human-centered-design, social-design, and participation are increasingly used in the context of future-oriented technologies, as well as in economic and political transformation processes. The goal of these approaches is to involve stakeholders from society in collaborative innovation processes and to transform societal needs into ideas. In this context, design plays two crucial roles: First, design acts as a translator, giving unknown possible futures a visual appear ance and making them tangible and discussable for broader audiences. Second, design can be used as an enabler, transferring methods of creativity to the innovation
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lynn harles — lynnharles.com
process in order to trigger the creative potential of stakeholders to generate holistic solutions. These role definitions are not a novel phenomenon, as they are evolving from former design movements of the 1960 / 80ies (e. g. Viktor Papanek) and approaches such as designerly-ways-of-knowing (Nigel Cross). But these approaches are also “westernways-of-knowing,” because they are based on western social trends. So if we speak about innovation in the African context, we need to scrutinize if western-ways-of-knowing are still appropriate or if the acknowledgement of African ways-of-knowing is more targetorientated? This question is positioned at the intersection of cultural-based innovation processes, intercultural knowledge-transfer, and post-imperialism. To avoid and to break with subconscious imperialistic thinking structures and to generate an understanding of innovation from a different cultural point of view, the Euro-centric understanding should no longer be seen as the “only” or the “right” way of innovating, not least because current socio-ecological challenges are bringing it into question. Based on Doris Tunstall’s thoughts on Decolonizing Design, I believe that approaches raising from Design Anthropology can be a catalyzer for society-based solutions. Therefore, I consider a third role for design to be that of the “identifyer,” aiming to create cultural identities and making use of cultural characteristics for thriving innovation. To do so, it is important to scrutinize western definitions of innovation and sustainability. Let’s take for example the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG’s), which aim to create a framework for sustainable innovations: None explicitly demand cultural conservation. Against this background, I will take Rwanda as an example to shortly illustrate the need for a culturally-based approach in human-centered and sustainable innovation processes: Rwanda can act as a driver within this paradigm shift, as it is currently one of the fastest growing countries in Africa. Compared to other African nations, this small East-African country has no natural resources that guarantee economic growth. As there are no coastlines or safari-parks to see the “Big-Five,” the tourism sector is
also not an indicator for economic stability. For this reason, the Rwandan government has developed the Smart Rwandan Master Plan, which aims to strengthen the country’s innovation capacities almost from scratch and to conduct the transformation to a knowledge-based economy. Even though innovation is mainly government driven, the private sector is slowly taking over, as the rising number of startups, local hubs, as well as the Kigali Fablab and the local women-in-tech movement are showcasing. So, when we are talking about society-based innovations in Rwanda, it is important to understand its societal structures, which can be considered as collectivistic, with a high sensitivity for the environment. Rwanda is actually the first country that banned plastic bags and came up with a government-ordered monthly clean-upday, called “Umuganda,” where the whole community is collectively cleaning up the streets. This example illustrates the contrast to German society, for example, where such a legislative would probably end with the election of a new government. Rwanda is also a best practice to showcase that not every functioning inno vation from the western world can be implemented anywhere. While Smart-City projects are popping up all around the global north to tackle the rural exodus, in Rwanda 70 % of the population is still living on the countryside, partly without Internet con nection. UBER has also recently failed to enter the Rwandan market, as the society prefers the local transportation systems (mototaxis), which better fits local needs. Therefore, other kinds of innovations are needed in Rwanda. We can summarize that cultural diversities and dynamics do not only need to be reconsidered, but also to be used as fertile soil for radical innovations. As design is playing important roles in innovation, it is crucial to develop and to adapt anthropological design methods and tools that help external stakeholders to literally see the world with different eyes; to strengthen the cultural self-confidence of former colonies, while breaking with post-imperialistic structures of thinking; to make use of past and present cultural heritage to create desirable futures that conserve cultural diversity in a converging global technosphere.
103 lynn harles
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Konstanze Albrecht und Natalie Josten (MA) entwickelten ein Kommunikationskonzept zur Fรถrderung von interkulturellen Begegnungen im Tourismus.
index P 32–35 MAGGIE ANDRESEN NEW YORK CITY (US) KIGALI (RW) maggieandresen.com Maggie is your friendly neighborhood journalist, advocate of the oxford comma, and the proud daughter of a librarian. She has always loved learning and stories and feels that photography can be catalytic for change. Currently, she is based between Kigali and New York.
P 38–41 MIHIR BHATT CREATIVE COMMUNICATIONS KIGALI (RW) cc-creativecomms.com Mihr Bhatt is art director at Creative Communications, the first full service integrated advertising and marketing agency in Rwanda, with an experienced blend of local, regional and international resources. Since it has been founded in 2002, they conceptu alize, design, and propose communications strate gies based on clients needs and goals. Their aim is to enhance their clients’ image, prestige, and profitability of their business. Photo: © Daniel Sommer.
P 110–114 DESIGNFORUM RHINELAND-PALATINATE MAINZ (DE) descom.de descom is a forum for design and communication. A project of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture, and Viniculture RhinelandPalatinate offering various activities and events to promote local designers. The Designforum offers space for networking and professional discussions between different disciplines and industries. Furthermore they organize the Rhineland-Palatinate design award, a design competition that honors special achievements in the field of communication and product design.
P 110–114 CAROLIN DÜRRENBERG DESIGNFORUM RHINELAND-PALATINATE MAINZ (DE) descom.de Carolin Dürrenberg studied Communication Design at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt and subsequently developed and implemented projects as a freelance graphic designer for various cultural,
social, and governmental institutions. She has been associated with the Designforum RhinelandPalatinate since the begin ning of her professional career and has been responsible for graphics and project management full-time since 2016.
P 110–114 SILKE PHILIPPS-DETERS DESIGNFORUM RHINELAND-PALATINATE MAINZ (DE) descom.de Silke Philipps-Deters studied Communication Design at the University of Applied Sciences Mainz. Her professional milestones include the design and distribution of products, the management of a design store, and freelance occupations as a communications designer. Silke is driven by her passion for networking and has made it her task as project head in the Designforum RhinelandPalatinate to connect the cultural and creative scenes of the state.
P 106–108 ABDI LATIF DAHIR NAIROBI (KE) qz.com
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authors & contributors
Abdi Latif Dahir is a reporter with Quartz Africa. He holds a master’s of arts degree in Political Journalism from Columbia University. He speaks Somali, Arabic, and Swahili.
P 102 / 103 LYNN HARLES BERLIN (DE) lynnharles.com Lynn Harles is a Berlinbased design researcher at Fraunhofer Center for Responsible Research and Innovation (CeRRI) and an ongoing PhD candidate at Bauhaus Universität Weimar. Her research is focusing on the innovative potential of the interdisciplinary intersection of design, science and innovation, aiming to create society- and culturalbased solutions for social and environmental challenges.
P 20–25 PIERRA NTAYOMBYA HAUTE BASO KIGALI (RW) hautebaso.com Canadian born to Rwandan parents, Pierra has spent most of her life in North America and Europe, where she developed a passion for fashion and retail. With
authors and contributors over ten years of experience, she saw an opportunity to bring her creativity and industry knowledge to Rwanda and relocated permanently in 2016. Driven by her ambition to elevate the fashion industry and empower youth and women, she founded Haute Baso. Photo: © Daniel Sommer.
P 104 / 105 KATHARINA HEYGOETHE-INSTITUTE KIGALI (RW) goethe.de/rwanda Katharina Hey is a literary scientist and contemporary historian by training. Based in Munich and Paris, she worked on a PhD in History, researching debates on decolonization and nationalization by French Jewish scholars between Algeria, France, and Israel. Since 2017, she is the director of the Goethe-Institut Rwanda in Kigali, committed to an intercultural artistic exchange across borders and continents.
P 10–15 MATTHEW RUGAMBA HOUSE OF TAYO KIGALI (RW) houseoftayo.com
Matthew Rugamba is the founder and creative director of House of Tayo— Rwandan-based fashion label that using uniform and classic silhouettes to reflect on the past as a way to shape the present. Beyond fashion, Rugamba is using his efforts to empower the locals in his community. As one of five founding members, Mathew is a part of Collective RW— a local Rwandan fashion collective aiming to use their experiences and brands as a way to collaborate with industry experts. Photo: © Daniel Sommer.
P 72–77 INNOCENT NKURUNZIZA INEMA ARTS CENTER KIGALI (RW) inemaartcenter.com Innocent is at the forefront of the growing Rwandan fine art movement. The desire to transform lives through art drives his work each day. Innocent co-founded Inema Arts Center with his brother and fellow painter, Emmanuel Nkuranga. His work is exhibited around the world from New York, Wilmington NC, Tucson AR, Portland OR, Boston, Charlottesville, and Washington DC in the U.S., to UK, Scotland, Canada, Germany, Denmark, and The Netherlands. Photo: © Daniel Sommer.
In Kinyarwanda “Kuuru” means growth, greatness and wisdom. Photo: © Daniel Sommer. P 56–59, 109 JUDITH KAINE KUREMA KUREBA KWIGA KIGALI (RW) kuremarwanda.com @kuremakurebakwiga In 2013 the American creative director Judith Kaine came to Rwanda and founded Kurema, Kureba, Kwiga (To Create, To See, To Learn), a public-art project that uses visual and street arts to highlight social issues in Rwanda, bringing together contemporary Rwandan artists and community-stakeholders. Photo: © Daniel Sommer.
P 46–53 NIYONKURU CANDA & MANZI JACKSON KUURU ART SPACE KIGALI (RW) kuruart.space Kuuru Art Space is an artist collective and physical space founded in 2017 by Rwandan artists Niyonkuru Canda, Manzi Jackson, and Moses Izabiriza. Having passed through Ivuka Arts, an artist incubator founded in 2007 where they experienced their artistic birth, Kuuru Arts was the next logical step for them to grow further.
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authors & contributors
Inside front cover, P 1–7 MOSES TURAHIRWA MOSHIONS KIGALI (RW) moshions.rw Fashion designer Moses Turahirwa established the Moshions fashion brand in 2015—it was his deep passion for making garments and his endurance that brought his company its breakthrough. Moshions is an elegant culturally inspired brand, sought after by insightful African and global customers looking for a distinctive world-class taste. Photo: © Daniel Sommer.
P 30–35 JACQUES NKINZINGABO KIGALI CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY KIGALI (RW) jacquesnkinzingabo.com kigaliphotocenter.com Born in Kigali, Jacques Nkinzingabo lives and works in Rwanda’s capital as a self-taught photographer and visual storyteller specializing in documentary photography. He is the founder of the Kigali
imprint SLANTED SPECIAL ISSUE RWANDA SUMMER 2019 PUBLISHER Slanted Publishers Nebeniusstraße 10 76137 Karlsruhe Germany T +49 (0) 721 85148268 magazine@slanted.de slanted.de ISSN regular issues 1867-6510 ISBN special issue 978-3-948440-02-2 © Slanted Publishers, Karlsruhe, 2019 All rights reserved. Editor in Chief (V.i.S.d.P.) Lars Harmsen Managing Editor Julia Kahl Art Direction Lars Harmsen Graphic Design Julia Kahl Video Editing Madelaine Merino, Max Clausen Photography Rwanda Daniel Sommer SLANTED WEBLOG
Editor in Chief (V.i.S.d.P.) Julia Kahl Editors slanted.de/en/ publisher/profile-contact VIDEO INTERVIEWS slanted.de/rwanda
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particular expectations and have returned full of inspiration, soulfulness, and deep admiration for what the country and its people have achieved. Special thanks to Daniel Sommer who accompanied us on our trip to Rwanda and who captured the right moments and lively people. You rock! This special issue would not have been possible without the support of Carolin Dürrenberg and Silke Philipps-Deters (descom, Designforum Rhineland-Palatinate), Jörg Sabrowski (Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture, and Viniculture RhinelandPalatinate), and Michael Nieden (Partnership Association Rwanda Rhineland-Palatinate).
ADVERTISING We offer a wide range of advertising possibilities online and in print. For advertising enquiries please get in touch with: Julia Kahl advertising management julia.kahl@slanted.de Isabella Krüger advertising sales T +49 (0) 721 85148268 isabella.krueger @slanted.de slanted.de/en/ publisher/advertising ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Thanks a lot to the artists, authors, and contributors of this issue—we came to Rwanda without any
128 imprint
DISCLAIMER The publisher assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of all information. Publisher and editor assume that material that was made available for publishing, is free of third party rights. Reproduction and storage require the permission of the publisher. Photos and texts are welcome, but there is no liability. Signed contributions do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publisher or the editor.
Many asked us: Why the hell did you go to Rwanda and how did you even get the idea? To answer these questions, a little segue into the past is necessary. Way back in 2012 Lars was sitting in the jury of the Design Award RhinelandPalatinate, awarded by the descom Designforum Rhineland-Palatinate. In 2018 it was Julia’s turn. It was there that she found out about the project to showcase Rhineland-Palatinatean design in Rwanda—and the other way around. To this end, descom is conceiving an exhibition that will be implemented in cooperation with the Partnership Association Rhineland-Palatinate / Rwanda (Jumelage) in Kigali and will show projects from both countries. It is now our honor to present a few outstanding personalities from Rwanda’s young creative scene. We came back with many good stories. Besides some “Design eye-candy” there were many other things that impressed us. Rwanda really showed us how it’s done. Plastic bags? They are absolutely forbidden there since 2004. Strict controls start at the airport. Obedience to the authority has probably played a key role in the success of this banishment policy. The citizens of Rwanda clean their city every last Saturday of the month. It is said to be anchored in the tradition of Rwandan culture. Kigali, for sure, is the cleanest city in Africa. On his return flight, Lars sat next to a woman who works in an NGO, building and distributing energy-saving cooking stoves on the country side. She told him how environmental management is being decentralized from the political to the local level, leading to a widespread understanding on how to preserve the environment, reducing soil erosion, flooding and malaria. Even in many countries of the first world such awareness is wishful thinking. Another highly interesting change is the conception of a local fashion industry. For over 40 years, Europe and the USA have been exporting their old clothes to Africa. Since then they have been sold so cheaply that the African textile industry hardly exists anymore. Back in the 70s, it was one of the most important branches of employment. Since this year, no more old clothes from the West may be imported to Rwanda! The country wants to produce the clothes itself again. This could create around 25,000 new jobs! Julia put it into practice right away. On the Kimironko market she had a jacket sewn. It took less than an hour. And it looks damn good! To see a developing country implement and carry out such legislations is ground-breaking. It goes to show; anything can be possible if the political will really exists and true efforts are made. So, we have to say it again: Rwanda showed us how it’s done!
This issue of Slanted Magazine goes along with additional video interviews which have been conducted by the Slanted team in February 2019 in Kigali.
To watch videos scan QR code, or visit slanted.de/rwanda
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