Art as Real as Life Itself, by Ellen

Ellen's proudest moment--she learned a complex drum sequence and played it with Afia

Today was an incredible and incredibly full day! We went from interviewing young women over lunch at the Akilah Institute, to making beautiful bracelets at Gahaya Links, and, for my personal highlight, we brought our day to a close at the Inema Art Center. In class prior to the trip, we discussed an article that explained the nature of art in Africa. We learned that many tourist attractions are not always as genuine as we think, but today I am happy to say we witnessed and partook in genuine expression--at an art center that is run by, and largely for, Rwandans.  We began by viewing the art created by two brothers, Innocent and Emmanuel. These two extremely talented men were gracious enough to open their gallery to us. Inema is a combination of their names, but  it also means, in Kinyarwanda, "creativity." They gave us a window into their active creation. Peering over Innocent’s shoulder as he painted intricate strokes over his beautiful canvas, I was struck by the realness of it. Very rarely am I ever lucky enough to see art in its intermediate stages, as opposed to just the final product, and it was truly a privilege.  Innocent and his brother furthered their hospitality by setting up a private dance lesson from their friend, “Coach”, and organized canvases for us to paint. Coach allowed us to explore another point explained in the article we read, the liveliness of art in Africa. Coach was very patient as we fumbled through the steps of traditional Rwandan dance and acted graciously in response to our lack of rhythmic finesse. At the end of our dance we moved to our canvases. Each one of us received a portion of the canvas to paint, and with Innocent’s constructive encouragements, we let our creativity flow. Each part of the canvas ended up entirely unique, showcasing our individual talents. Our brushes moved quickly as we created and recreated our visions, no mistake a little white paint couldn’t fix. At the end, we had a creation that symbolized the community nature of life here.  We painted together and created a whole better than the sum of each part.  We ate dinner at the center, under the beautifully clear Rwandan sky, and I could feel life in the air. Our day was filled with laughter, motion and color, and that itself was art.  

Photos from Gahaya Links

Michael--aka pensive woodpecker

Photos from Inema Art Center

 

the group paintings