At Yego Arts Centre, 19-year-old Hortance Kamikazi exhibits her collection titled Renaissance. Female artists in Rwanda are so rare that some visitors doubt that the work is hers. Some of her paintings were featured at this year’s Kigali Up Music Festival.

Kamikazi creates mixed media pieces depicting life’s experiences. Using pieces of tree bark, wood, acrylic paints, metallic dust and metals, she weaves poetic lines.

The former Nyundo School of Art student says she combines what she learnt there and her life experiences.

Renaissance features 11 pieces: One piece, Story of Happiness, represents her evolution through art and introduction to painting.

“In Story of Happiness, my way to democracy is a hidden secret of amorphous youth, from our ancestors who showed us a strong dynamic nature.”

Kamikazi says her dream is to create a niche for herself.

In one of the pieces, titled My Renaissance, she uses metal to create a plant, glues it to bark from a tree, and places it on a painted canvas background.

In Hidden Secret, she again uses tree bark placed on canvas. The bark is embedded with coins. The piece takes the form of a human body, which “holds hidden wonders.”

Although the exhibition draws only a handful of enthusiasts, Kamikazi says she is happy to have the opportunity to showcase her work.