Inside Kigali's thriving creative scene, where art meets opportunity

A thriving creative scene is giving young Rwandans a platform to express themselves, earn a living and shape the country’s future.

It is day two of my four-day whirlwind tour of Kigali, a city known for its orderliness. Yet, beyond this reputation lies a creative streak that is impossible to ignore.

Here, artists’ canvases spread out like the city’s many hills, creating a stream of revenue for the local youth. Kigali is many things, but it takes a visitor by surprise to learn that it has some of the most talented artists on the continent.

Young Rwandan artists are at the heart of Kigali’s creative energy, turning art into a pathway to possibility. Using everything from scrap metal to bold acrylics, they blend tradition and modernity while reflecting the resilience of a generation shaped by Rwanda’s recovery from the 1994 genocide.

At Niyo Art Centre, Aimable Kigenza’s giant silverback gorilla sculpture, Renaissance, pays tribute to genocide survivors and their journey from hatred to freedom. The self-taught artist works with recycled materials, including parts from cars, bicycles and motorcycles.

At the centre’s workshop, we meet founder Niyosanga Pacifique, initially wary of our questions. But after some reassurance, he relaxes, returning to his canvas and speaking with the quiet authority of someone deeply invested in the power of art.

“Did you know there are only two people who can create? God and an artist,” he begins. “An artist knows what he wants and gives it value. In America, this piece can fetch US$15,000, but in Africa, we think we don’t deserve the best. You don’t despise yourself and expect others to respect you.”

Africans, according to Pacifique, are yet to fully value the work of artists, going by their warped views about art.

“If you tell your relatives that you paint things, they will tell you to get a ‘real’ job that pays well,” he says. “Art pays as well; otherwise we would not be doing it. In fact, our paint comes from France and some canvas from Oman. That’s not cheap.”

Pacifique founded the art centre 15 years ago as a small social enterprise to connect art and music while aiming to improve the lives of the less privileged, including children in the neighbourhood.

“I saw a place where people can come and enjoy a social lifestyle,” he says. “Then other artists joined the centre. Today, we have 17 artists here who use the studio and exhibit for free. They also donate part of the proceeds to the foundation for social development.”

Pacifique grew up in Kigali before he was adopted by a Canadian family at the age of 12. He got interested in art at the tender age of eight, a love that extended to music. His large acrylic-on-canvas pieces are among the most expensive here, some fetching up to US$21,000 (Sh2.7 million).

“Our art is all about community impact and change in children’s lives,” he says. “That’s the reason people buy this art.”

At Inema Arts Centre in Kigali’s Kacyiru, paintings, jewellery and sculptures celebrating local life fill the gallery, while dance performances, workshops and fashion shows make it a vibrant community space. Founded in 2012 by self-taught brothers Emmanuel Nkuranga and Innocent Nkurunziza, Inema also gives children from disadvantaged backgrounds a space to learn and create.

Here, we meet Kenyan artist Silas Anditi, who moved to Rwanda in 2012 and says he is a registered voter in Ndenderu, Kiambu.

“I came to visit a friend and fell in love with Kigali,” he tells us. “Then the friend suggested I come and see this gallery. I never left and the rest is history.” He is one of the prolific painters here.

But as Anditi says, it requires patience to succeed as an artist since sales can be few and far between. Some pieces here go for US$30,000 (Sh3.9 million).

“Sometimes it can take five months for a piece to be bought, mostly by expatriates who are our key customers,” says Anditi, who is fluent in the local language, Kinyarwanda.

After winding through Kigali’s hills with Frank, our driver from Hemingways Retreat, it became clear that art is the city’s heartbeat. From Pacifique’s belief in artists as co-creators to Inema’s vibrant mix of painting, dance and fashion, Kigali’s creative spaces reflect resilience and pride. Beyond expression, art supports families, keeps children in school and helps heal wounds left by the 1994 genocide.