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Kurema, Kureba, Kwiga artists get street art skills

Friday June 19 2015
Rwandavisual

Visual artists take part in painting exercises at Discover Rwanda in Kacyiru. PHOTO | ANDREW I KAZIBWE

Visual arts is one of the fastest growing art among Rwanda’s arts industry. The art form has equipped local visual artists with new skills.

Bhupi Jethwa, known as Wise Two, a Kenyan-based visual street artist, was recently in Rwanda where he shared his skills with over 15 Rwandan visual artists from Kurema, Kureba, Kwiga (To create, To see, To learn).

Kurema, Kureba, Kwiga is a social-enterprise project that brings together young Rwandan artists, with an emphasis on promoting creativity and community through colour.

“Back home in America, street art is well known, but that is not the case here in Rwanda,” said Judith Lesley Kaine, the founder of Kurema, Kureba, Kwiga.

According to Bhupi street art is steadily picking up in Kenya.

The 10-day street art event featured participatory workshops and outreach collaborations at Kiyovu, Kacyiru and Kimisagara in Kigali. The artists used spray paints, stencils, ordinary art paint and various brush sizes to design large images onto the walls of buildings.

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The artists sprayed a combination of both semi-abstract and abstract images.

Bhupi uses various unique symbols he has seen from various traditional walks of life, in his art pieces. He is a self-taught artist and one of the pioneers of street art in East and Central Africa.

Following the success of the event, the organisers are formulating plans to develop a regional street art festival, which they propose for later this year or early 2016.