‘Kwigira’ Museum unveiled in Nyanza
The celebrations of International Museum Day were held under the theme, “the power of museums”, to emphasize the importance of museums and their role in community education.
For Rwanda to be where it is now, there were homegrown initiatives that were developed to foster self-reliance,” said Robert Masozera, Director General of Rwanda Culture Heritage Academy, RCHA. “This new museum is here to showcase them so young people and other people from all parts of the world can learn from them,” he continued.
Kwigira, self-reliance, is a new exhibition that showcases a collection of images and texts that explain in detail homegrown initiatives which contributed to the rebuilding and revival of the nation and highlight the resilient history of Rwanda.
On the occasion of International Museum Day, annually celebrated on May 18, a new museum ‘Kwigira’ was launched in Rwesero-Nyanza. It comprises an exhibition of Home Grown Initiatives.
It was unveiled alongside other new culture-based, community-based, and adventure-based tourism products in Kamonyi, Huye, and Nyanza Districts to promote heritage corridor tourism destinations on May 20.
Huye District is known for hosting diverse attractions like the “famous Huye Ethnographic Museum”, Huye/Astrida Cathedral, Huye Mountain Coffee, the Ruhande Arboretum, and Mount Huye (Ibisi bya Huye) with the potential to attract mountain hikers, as well as other historical sites.
Kamonyi District, located at the entrance to the Heritage Corridor, is known for cultural, heritage, and adventure attractions such as Ijuru rya Kamonyi, Mashyiga rocks adventure, Nyabarongo wetlands, Ibiti Bitanu, the country’s center point, and Mpushi rocks climbing, which has the potential to attract rock climbers.
Nyanza district is popularly known as a cultural tourism destination due to its historical background as the last royal capital. There are different cultural heritage products linked to the kingship that can only be found there, the most recent being the Kwigira Museum.