_____
Umugore, Umwami,
Inzoka, n’Ihene
the woman, the king, the snake and the goats, an art residency in Kigali, Rwanda with
the support of L’ESPACE and Atelier
After a month in residency in Kigali, a new solo exhibition by Guillaume Sardin. The exhibition features a large-scale painting and a series of painted Ingogoro (milk pots), weaving a narrative around Nyagakecuru, a formidable female leader in Rwanda’s past from the Huye region.
According to oral tradition, Nyagakecuru was a powerful and defiant chief whose stronghold was guarded by wild animals. She opposed the King but was ultimately defeated through his wit and cunning. Over time, her story has evolved, with some considering her a magical being, reflecting the ways in which history and mythology intertwine.
prelimenary sketch
With Umugore, Umwami, Inzoka n’Ihene, Sardin continues his artistic exploration of storytelling and its impact on shaping perceptions of the world. He embraces the role of an unreliable narrator, raising questions about how history is constructed and reinterpreted over time. The exhibition plays on the tension between deeply rooted Rwandan folklore and the perspective of an outsider, revealing moments of cultural connection in oral traditions and opening space for evolving identities.
The exhibition’s centerpiece is a striking wooden triptych depicting Nyagakecuru at the moment Ruganzu presents her with gifts, marking the beginning of her downfall. Complementing the triptych, a collection of painted Ingogoro further expands the narrative, integrating both European and Rwandan artistic influences. While the triptych echoes medieval European paintings, the drawings on the Ingogoro mirror the storytelling traditions of Ancient Greek vases. By merging European history painting with Rwandan symbols and context, Sardin offers a novel lens on Nyagakecuru’s story.
The Altar
Inspired by European altar, it depicts the downfall of Nyakagecuru. It merges European Historical painting with Rwandan references . The three part large scale paiting is done an Rwandan pine tree. Every detail is a fragment of the story. An invitation to stop, and reflect. At the center, like a self suficient universe, the Rugo, at the gate Nyagakecuru.
The Rugo ( Ancient Rwandan compound) is especially sensitive to the wounds that men may inflict upon it. That is why it requires from its caretaker, who made it grow, affection and protection against the dangers of the outside world
Edouard Gasarabwe in conversation
The Inkongoro - Rwanda milk pot
Completing the Altar, Guillaume painted on 20 Inkongoro of various sizes. They are traditional milk pot. In this process of creolization, Guillaume turned them into Greek vases, each of them tell the story of the Goats and the Snake, the two animals that structure the story of Nyakagecuru. An exemple of Edouard Glissant’s philosophy in the making.
Inspired by the works of Edouard Gasarebwe, Mona Cholet, and Edouard Glissant, Sardin said, “This is not a historical exhibition about the past; it is a recognition that we are all vessels of creolisation, we are all our own unreliable narrators.” Through the complex story of Nyagakecuru, the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on their own identities and the ongoing dialogue between history and globalisation.