Kigali Triennial, The Ambitious New Event On The African Cultural Calendar

Rwanda has rightly earned the nickname of "a land of a thousand hills and a thousand and one opportunities" because of the country's impressive economic progress. However, after the recently-concluded celebration of arts which was the inaugural Kigali Triennial festival, you can now add culture to the list of things the country offers for tourists and investors.

- Davy Ingabire

From the start, the Rwanda Arts Initiative team, a cultural NGO created and managed by Rwandan artists, decided to think very big with a particularly ambitious project leaving out no form of art from the 10-day program. The scale of the ambition was in keeping with the ambition of the country, with organizers planning to feature: theater, cinema, music, plastic arts, fashion, culinary arts, art technology, dance, literature, musical, and readings.

Working in partnership with the city of Kigali and the Ministry in charge of youth and the arts, the Kigali Triennial was born, and the dates were set for the first edition: February 16 to 25, 2024. When the time came, more than 200 artists and technicians from 25 countries gathered to exhibit more than 60 shows, screenings and performances across 10 different locations in the Rwandan capital and with two special performances taking place outside the city.

"The triennial is the result of a dialogue between the artistic community, the city of Kigali and the ministry of youth and the arts. It turned out that there was a Rwandan youth who drives cultural life in Kigali and Rwanda, a youth who invented their own artistic codes," explained Rwandan author, playwright and artistic director for the event, Dorcy Rugamba.

"In 2023, Rwanda Arts Initiative had presented more than a hundred Rwandan artists to the international scene. This year, we wanted to invite the world of arts and professionals to discover this country and its transformation, by highlighting Kigali as an artistic and cosmopolitan hub where artists meet."