Category: Arts & Culture

Batik is a word used in West Africa consisting on the process of hand decorating and printing a fabric in which parts not to be dyed are covered by wax.

African fashion really spread worldwide with the batik fabrics tailored in the western fashion way. The patterns on the fabrics reflect the beauty, texture and simplicity of the African tradition.

These fabrics are originally from West Africa; Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana and the Gambia.

History and manufacture

There are examples of batik textiles in many parts of Africa but the most developed skills are to be found in Nigeria when the Yoruba people make Adire clothes.

Two methods are used in the dying and printing of the fabric: Adire Eleso which involves tied and stitched designs and Adire Eleko where the starch paste is used.

The paste is most often made from cassava (a root plant) flour, rice, alum or copper sulfate boiled together to produce a smooth thick paste.

The paste produced from that mixture is used in two different ways.

The first; using the freehand drawing of traditional designs using a feather, thin stick piece of fine bone, a metal or a wooden comb-like tool. This one is done by women.

Men on the other hand force the pasting through a thin metal stencil with a flexible metal or wooden tool; this enables accurate repeat patterns to be achieved.

The patterning of cloth is usually a family tradition handed down from mother to daughter as a cottage industry.

The cloth is usually divided into squares or rectangles and designs represent everyday tools, carvings, bead work, activities or traditional image of the artists own culture or tribal history.

An Eleko cloth (paste used) is usually made up of 2.2 meters pieces sewn together.

The traditional dye is indigo from a plant that grows throughout Africa. They produce a dark blue color which varies with the varieties of indigo. Once the paste resist is dry, the fabric is dyed in large clay pots or pits dug in the earth.

After dying, the paste is scraped off to reveal a white or pale blue design. The usual cloth is cotton but highly prized clothing using wild silk is sometimes produced.

But in recent years, other clothes using the African designs have been produced in Britain ( Manchester clothes) and Holland, these ones are made by the machine.

This (Thursday) lunchour, Kigali City Center business came to a standstill when dozens of men and women clad in traditional Rwandan attire walked and staged at Kigali City Tower drumming nonstop.

Business temporarily closed as many dwellers walked to take a glimpse of a surprise event that lasted nearly thirty minutes.

Many People kept asking why the drumming was suddenly at the city tower.

Several onlookers claimed it was an event to officially inaugurate the highest building in Rwanda( KCT).

Traffic Police, ensured the drummers were safe during their walk to the city tower, walking from the main round about towards Rubangura shopping complex and staged at Kigali city tower walkway.

IGIHE Was right on time at the scene. Below we bring you the unedited event captured on still photos.

The Drum, is symbolic instrument of Rwanda. It part of life in Rwandan tradition.

Thus 147 drummers from the 5 Provinces of Rwanda headed by Damascus Mbarushimana brought Kigali city to a standstil for thirty minutes of uninterupted drumming.

15 minutes of jubilation, for 15 minutes launch the Music Festival as it should to Kigali, 15 minutes between modernity and traditon with the drums in the foreground and the Kigali City Tower in the background.

This was simply a Music Festival event organized by the Institution for the Franco-Rwanda in partnership with Professional Drummers, supported by the University and Ingoma Nshya Nationale of Butare and under the benevolence of the Rouère security of Kigali, Kigali City Council and Ministry of Culture.

Today the Refugee Film Festival will be launched at 6.30 pm at the Ishyo Theater Hall in Kacyiru.

The festival will include the screening of “One Life One Story” short films and “Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars” as well as a panel discussion on pertinent refugee issues today.

UNHCR and MIDIMAR will deliver an opening address, to be followed by the screening of the short films “One Life One Story”.

In this series shot on the borders of conflict zones around the Great Lakes region, refugees and internally displaced people talk about being forced from their homes and how that experience has shaped their lives.

The short films will be followed by the musical documentary “Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars”, which tells the remarkable story of a group of six Sierra Leonean musicians who formed a band while living as refugees in the Republic of Guinea.

To conclude the first evening, a panel discussion on the issues highlighted in the films will be held.

The panel will consist of the UNHCR Representative, Ms Neimah WARSAME, the returnee, Hope AZEDA of Mashirika theatre group, the former Mufti of Rwanda, Sheikh Saleh HABIMANA (Rwanda Governance Board), and the journalist and former Rwandan refugee in Zambia, Geraldine MUKAKABEGO.

Rwanda has been selected to host the first edition of the EAC Arts and Culture Festival scheduled to take place from 27 October to 4 November 2012.

The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors Hon. Jesca Eriyo announced that Rwanda had been selected by the evaluation committee after “having submitted the most outstanding proposal”.

Rwanda’s bid to host the historic event eclipsed that presented by Uganda, which is the other EAC Partner State that had expressed interest in hosting the Festival.

The EAC Arts and Culture Festival comes to life following a decision by the 23rd Council of Ministers meeting held in Arusha in September 2011 to have the region host regular arts and culture festivals.

The festivals, to be hosted by the Partner States on a rotational basis, aim to foster an East African cultural identity that depicts the cultural life of East Africans, illustrate their cultural unity in diversity and to create an enabling environment for the promotion and development of arts and creative industries as a viable tool for sustainable socio-economic development.

The festivals will contribute greatly towards the promotion of cultural tourism as well as conservation, safeguarding and development of cultural heritage and the overall marketing of regional cultural groups, workers and creators with their diverse products at regional and international levels.

“The theme of this year’s festival will be ‘Deepening Integration through Culture and Creative Industries’, with the main objective of bringing artistes and East Africans together to dialogue, learn, exchange, network, and celebrate the region’s rich and diverse cultural heritage,” Hon. Eriyo said.

She added that the Festival will provide a platform for East Africans to celebrate their similarities and diversities, while deepening and widening the arts and culture market and promoting better understanding of the benefits of integration in the Community and beyond.

Over the nine-day duration of the inaugural event, a variety of activities are planned, including cultural villages, art exhibitions, fashion shows, workshops and symposiums as well as live performances, among others. These will be conducted at more than five different venues.

The first edition of the Festival has targeted to attract a minimum of 3,000 visitors, staying an average of 10 days with an average expenditure of USD 70 per day. This would generate visitor expenditure of USD 2.1 million.

In addition, the Festival is expected to generate short term and indirect employment especially for the young people aged 20-35 years and provide an additional fillip to ancillary sectors like the media and hospitality sectors.

Hon. Eriyo thus urged all Partner States to lend their support to the event and actively participate in the Festival, and further called on the private sector, civil society organizations and indeed the whole citizenry of the Community to take advantage of the festival to display their talents and “learn from our diverse, rich and interesting culture as it will be displayed; and trade among themselves”.

The Deputy Secretary General also noted the Festival will showcase employment opportunities and experiences that East Africans can harness.

The biennial EAC Arts and Culture festivals are mooted to be held in conjunction with host Partner State Governments, private sector and civil society and are expected to attract a cross section of East Africans and visitors to the region alike.

Vessels of all shapes and sizes took part in the historic pageant including royal barge Spirit of Chartwell, with the 86-year-old monarch and her proud family on board.

The Queen defied the wind and rain without an umbrella to wave from beneath an ornate canopy on the Spirit of Chartwell as it joined a magnificent flotilla making the seven-mile trip from Battersea to Tower.

Tonight three winners will be announced at The Award Ceremony of the Film Script Competition at Ishyo center at 7.30 pm. Also a film “LA FILLE DU GRAND MONSIEUR” will be casting by one of the jury members, Georges Kamanayo, which starts at 6.30 pm.

Young Rwandan filmmakers and scriptwriters (up to 35 years) were asked to develop a paper for a short film on the topic of “Zero Tolerance for Gender Based Violence”.

In the case of the AWARD the script for a SHORT FEATURE FILM should deal with school related gender based violence.

• contain the idea of the film (short paragraph)

• contain the summary/synopsis (1-2 pages)

• contain a sample of dialogue (1-2 pages)

• consist of no more than 4 pages in total

• be handed in until April 30th 2012 as both soft- and hardcopy

• be written in English language, whereas the film itself is to be produced in Kinyarwanda with English subtitles.

An acclaimed Ghanian novelist and poet Nii Ayikwei Parkes will be in Rwanda this weekend and lead a creative writing workshop. The session will be interactive and provide a chance for developing and sharing your own writing.

This is a unique opportunity for writers and aspiring writers in Kigali to get inspiration and advice from one of the most exciting new voices in contemporary African literature. Parkes’ novel Tail of the Blue Bird (Random House) was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize.

A 2007 recipient of Ghana’s national ACRAG award for poetry and literary advocacy, he has held visiting positions at the University of Southampton and California State University and delivered lectures and talks on poetry and creative writing at universities internationally.

As a poet he has published several pamphlets and his latest books of poetry are the Michael Marks Award-shortlisted Ballast: a remix (2009), described in the Guardian as, “An astonishing, powerful remix of history and language” and The Makings of You (Peepal Tree Press).

Inyamibwa-cultural troupe of the National university of Rwanda plans to present their outreach activities promoting Rwandan culture at Amahoro Stadium from March 21 to 23.

The students intend to convey Rwandan culture through the youth to share the rich heritage.

150 members of Inyamibwa-cultural troupe will travel around the country senstising the youth about dangers of drugs, AIDS and the true values of the Rwandan culture.

Inyamibwa troupe will perform original Rwandan traditional songs and dance.

The troupe also aims at encouraging elite Rwandans to embrace their traditional culture . Some strategies include teaching cultural studies in high schools.

At the function people will have the opportunity to discover the varieties of original songs from several corners of the country and decoration accompanying their dances.

Tonight Wednesday 14 March, at 7 pm will be memorable for all cultural literary enthusiasts. One of the most prolific of Rwanda’s cultural activists; will be showcasing a whole new side to his eminent multifaceted creativity.

The amazing performance from Rugano will be held at the cultural center of Ishyo at the theater hall. Free entrance for all.

Kalisa Rugano was born at Rutongo in Buliza region in 1946 and later fled into exile in Congo and Burundi. From the very start of his career as an African poet and play writer he quickly became perhaps one of the Rwanda’s prominent cultural activists.

During his career Rugano has written 26 plays in Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and French. Rugano says his poems are a collection can be portrayed as the gushing need for the revitalization and rehabilitation of a people who suffered so much torture, “Poetry is LIBERATION!” which was published in 2010.

Rugano was inspired by the life experiences and teachings of his professor teacher Jean-Baptiste Mutabaruka who wasthe inspiration for the name of his ballet theater.

In 1980 Ruhgano created a group called “Mukabutura Ballet Theater” where he showcases his collections of poems.

Mutabaruka is also a Rwandan poet who now resides in Bujumbura. He was born in 1937 to Catholic parents in the eastern region of Rwanda, and was educated among the “Catholic Fathers” in the Congo.

The red carpet film screening for the young Rwandan directors will be held at Ishyo Theatre (today) Tuesday 28th . The films will be screened in front of directors who will individually speak to the crowds about their movies.

The four films for screening include; “Note bene” by Richard Mugwaneza, “Saa Ipo” by Jean Luc Fils Habyarimana, “Ruhago” by Aime Philbert Mbabazi, and “Mama” by Jean Bosco Nshimiyana.

Richard Mugwaneza worked for two years with film Production Company Almond Tree Films productions as a permanent cinematographer and film editor, and after working on other filmmakers’ projects, started freelance film directing and screenwriting career.

“The Idea of “Nota Bene” came to him while he was resting after a long journey of work; he said I switched on my radio and heard that a journalist visited people from the furthest parts of the village in Rwanda.”

“So my message to them became message” No Better Place than Home” stated Mugwaneza. The real meaning of the film’s title “NOTA BENE” is derived from Latin which simply translated means Pay Attention”.

“From the youngest to the oldest, the dream was to see what the capital city looks like.”

Jean Luc Fils Habyarimana the director of “SAA IPO” is a 28 year old gospel singer who Habyarimana worked as first assistant camera operator on Lee Isaac Chung’s film Munyurangabo, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

Habyarimana worked on the crew of Maibobo, a short film by Yves Montand Niyongabo, and as cinematographer on Kinyarwanda, a film by Alrick Brown.

Jean Bosco Nshimiyana and Aime Philbert Mbabazi are both young upcoming directors who will also be at the screening, where they will be showing their movies for the first time both are very excited and are eager as well as apprehensive about the public’s feedback.

The directors will be present to introduce their works before the screening, where after all four movies have been shown the directors will be available for questions and discussions. The films will be 6.30 pm, in the Iysho halls, entrance is free.