Discovering Literary Art Culture in Kigali, Rwanda

Out of the five cities I researched for my report on exemplar creative cities, Kigali, Rwanda was the most inspiring and my favourite. My goal in my research was to challenge my assumptions about what literary art means and the different forms it can take. Reflecting on my conversation with our mentor Mel in class, my attention was captivated by the spoken word art medium. In Kigali, I found there was a bright spoken word art presence in the community and that the art was helping the people heal and express themselves. Kigali is remarkable because it shows tremendous growth in the creative industries and it has used art to mend the wounds from a horrendous past. Additionally, African history is predominantly oral, which lends an explanation to why the spoken word art form has taken off and resonated with the community in Kigali so strongly. The centre of the spoken word art community in Kigali is the Spoken Word Rwanda yearly festival. The following is an excerpt from my paper that explains the Spoken Word Festival in greater detail:

In 2012 Kigali had its first Spoken Word festival (The power of Spoken Word, Literature and Art, 2012, para. 2), something completely new to Rwanda (para. 1). The festival is about ‘bringing people together to celebrate the expression of self” (The power of Spoken Word, Literature and Art, 2012, para. 1). The performances of Spoken Word Rwanda (SWR) reflect the cultural vibrance through diverse linguistic presence because of the use of English, French, and Kinyarwanda (The power of Spoken Word, Literature and Art, 2012, para. 3). The festival draws people that “span many generations and nationalities” to participate and to appreciate the art form (The power of Spoken Word, Literature and Art, 2012, para. 3) which further exemplifies cultural richness of the city. In addition to spoken word performances, the festival includes workshops, film screenings, and diverse art exhibits to be enjoyed by tourists and citizens of the city alike (The power of Spoken Word, Literature and Art, 2012, para. 15). - Campbell, 2019, p. 2

References

Campbell, A. (2019, February 20). Creative Economy: Art, Culture, & the City. Retrieved from https://www.canva.com/design/DADRD4YSwH8/05973xrTBilNo_pMdpZjXQ /view?utm_content=DADRD4YSwH8&utm_campaign =designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton

Doyle, R.B. (2014, May 30). In Rwanda, Looking to Art to Soothe. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/travel /in-rwanda-looking-to-art-to-soothe.html?_r=0