Exhibitions in Graz

Rwanda: Dark memories of a genocide

Construction of the neighborhood house in Kigali (Rwanda)(Bild: Florence Prudhomme)

Kulturvermittlung Steiermark is showing two exhibitions on the genocide in Rwanda 30 years ago in Graz City Hall. In view of the current conflict with neighboring Congo, the topic is more topical than ever.

Two exhibitions, which are closely linked in terms of content and yet very different, will get under your skin in the galleries of Graz City Hall. The starting point for "In the memory of those who remained" is the genocide in Rwanda 30 years ago, which continues to have an impact today and is currently escalating again. Within just 100 days, more than 800,000 people were murdered and two million were forced to flee.

 In order to put a face to this incomprehensible and abstract number, Kulturvermittlung Steiermark collaborated with Holocaust researcher Aurelia Kalisky, activist Ancilla Umubyeyi and the Imena Neighborhood House in Kigali (Rwanda) for this project.

The children's transports saved many lives.(Bild: Lam Duc Hien)

In the photo gallery in the town hall, people who experienced this dark time as children have their say and have put their often fragmentary memories on paper. But also mothers who had to come to terms with the loss of their children and write touching letters to them. There are also some pictures of the child transports organized by the NGO Terre des Hommes, which enabled around 1000 children to survive. All these individual fates also bring the experience closer to us, who at best have only followed the reports about this genocide in the media.

The exhibition in the youth gallery on the second floor is touching. There you can see fairytale paintings by children from Rwanda who held a pencil or paintbrush in their hands for the first time. These drawings are rays of hope that at least make a better future seem possible.

Both exhibitions can be seen free of charge until February 14.