Rwanda Wed 09-11-2011

Five by Five – Rwanda Artists Show New Works in Kigali
Press release

From 10th to 21st November 2011 at Umubano Hotel in Kigali five Rwandan artists (Arlette Vandeneycken, Epaphrodite Binamungu, Janvier Ndolimana, Pascal Bushayija and Strong Karakire) will exhibit large sized paintings, the smallest size being 100 x 150 cm and the largest 140 x 400 cm.

The five artists will be showing a great diversity of styles and techniques, as well as systems of representation that they uphold, accommodate and transform. Thematically broad, the paintings depict a great variety of subjects ranging from many cultural scenes, to landscapes and animals, and even pure abstracts. The exhibition leaves all artists freedom in their artistic development.

_{Laundry Day, Arlette Vandeneycken 150 x 100, Acriylics on Canvas. 2011}

There is also diversity in the choice of the artists: four men and one woman, older and younger artists, some have undergone artistic trainings, others are autodidacts. But they all have in common a passion for arts and are actively shaping Rwanda’s visual arts landscape. All five artists have been exhibiting in the ongoing East African Art Biennale in Dar es Salaam.

The exhibition has the aim of contribution to the country’s contemporary art development. Visual arts in Rwanda defy easy categorization; nevertheless it is based on a common paradigm through its inspiration by traditional Rwandan esthetics. Rwandan traditional symbols and forms reveal fluent lines, clear composition and abstraction that transcend in contemporary paintings.