RWANDAN SURIVIVORS SPEAK OUT IN NEW EXHIBITON

A new multimedia exhibition in Brighton features personal stories from the Rwandan community in the U.K.

The Rwandan diaspora tell their own stories and engage the public in innovative ways in a new exhibition running from 6 June to 8 July in Brighton. Keeping Memories: The Rwandan Community in the U.K combines audio, text, photographs and paintings to commemorate the Rwandan past and celebrate the future.

The exhibition is part of a Heritage Lottery funded project led by local community group Rwandan Youth Information Community Organisation (rYico). Over several months, trained volunteers conducted life story interviews with members of the Rwandan community. The interviews were then developed into an exhibition creatively drawing upon a range of media to best convey the unique perspective of each story.

According to rYico Director Vivenie Mugunga, the exhibition is a rare opportunity for Rwandans to tell their stories in their own way: “Members of the Rwandan community in the U.K often feel that there is a great amount of misinformation and misrepresentation about Rwanda and Rwandans out there”. For Mugunga the exhibition is a source of empowerment for the community: “the Rwandan diaspora are given a role to play in telling and keeping their own history as well as representing themselves in the way they would like. Who could tell your story better than yourself?”

In telling their stories, participants aim to promote a better understanding of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and preserve the memories of the Rwandan diaspora. The exhibition also explores broader themes of prejudice, ignorance, forgiveness and reconciliation ─ encouraging visitors to think deeply about the past as it relates to the present.

Keeping Memories: The Rwandan Community in the U.K is showing at the Jubilee Library, Brighton from 6 June – 8 July 2012 followed by other U.K locations. Admission is free.

rYico is a U.K registered charity working to support vulnerable young people in Rwanda as well as raising awareness about Rwanda in the UK through a cultural exchange programme of community projects and events.

For more information on the Keeping Memories exhibition and rYico, or to request images or arrange an interview, please contact Dan Godshaw, Project Coordinator on 01273 234836 or info@ryico.org