Rwandans to access Kinyarwanda archive songs recorded during the colonial period

Talking to our publication, Vivaldi Ngenzi, Kinyarwanda Art Museum manager, said that the decision to showcase the Kinyarwanda talents and hand over songs and sounds is to help Rwandans access them. This will also help native talent that promotes Rwandan official language Kinyarwanda by giving them ideas and introduction to the origins of their traditional music, mostly in Kinyarwanda.

In collaboration with The University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) and the Hamwe Festival, Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy has organized an exhibition that will allow Rwandans to listen to and use the 4,000 sounds and songs recorded during the colonial period that was handed over by Belgium last year.

The first workshop is scheduled to take place this Thursday, May 5, at Institute Français with a panel discussion that will analyze and understand the Rwandan Music Archives.

The archival exhibition launch, according to Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy, is scheduled to take place in November this year, where different Rwandans including musicians will be able to listen to and sample some of the songs and sounds.

Prior to the archival exhibition, Ngenzi noted that different workshops in collaboration with some experts will be held to discuss the importance of access to musical archives dating from pre-colonial times to the present day.

Micheal Makembe, one of the best music producers who is best known for mixing traditional sounds with modern sounds, will also be part of the discussions that will take place in the workshop.

The sounds and songs were all recorded during the colonial period and taken between the 1950s and 2000’s. These archives were conserved by the Royal Museum of Central Africa before they were returned to Rwanda on a disc.

“We are collaborating with UGHE and Hamwe Festival to curate an exhibition about the songs. The exhibition of Kinyarwanda song launch is scheduled to happen in November,” he said.

The handover of the archives last year was welcomed by different rwandan musicians who noted that it’s an addition that will uplift creativity in Rwanda.