About Rwandan Artist: Rigobert Uwiduhaye
Rigobert is a conservation artist from East Africa, Rwanda. He lives in Musanze. He runs an outdoor gallery and art studio. He mentors and coaches young artists . He also started a library in Musanze for young children. Rigobert specializes in African wild life and animal portraits. He also does commissions.
Read Rigobert's bio:
Art grasped my attention at a very young age. I can recall how drawing lessons interested me much more than other activities that appealed to my peers in nursery school. Growing up, the interest grew further. I would always, excitedly, volunteer when teachers wanted me to draw for them both in primary and secondary schools. Oh, how time flies! With a lot of contemplation whether to go for my childhood dream: studying motor vehicle mechanics, or go to study art, I found myself at Ecole d'Art De Nyundo. I could not think of something new that I was going to learn until I was blown away with what we were learning and what my colleagues were doing as well. The learning experience was fulfilling and amazing. Things changed a little bit when I graduated from high school. People from where I come from, Musanze, less understood, nor connected to art easily. I embarked on a journey to familiarize them with it. Realizing that art and creativity helped me to bring people together and discuss ideas, I decided to use art as a platform to raise awareness around wildlife conservation, especially those that are found in the Virunga Mountain Range, where I live and Akagera National Park.
Many Rwandans do not visit places of natural beauty often. So painting wildlife allows them to have a closer look at wild animals that reside in Rwanda's national parks. My hope is that whenever they love the beauty of the paintings, they will want the real animals to live. Over the last few years, pandemics arose in various parts of the world. Many of these diseases, such as Ebola are zoonotic (an animal disease that can jump to humans). They have found ways to cause harm to us humans as a result of immoral practices towards wildlife. Not acting is not the right choice since we give a chance to those who end up putting the lives of many on a threat. A little contribution from each and everyone can save more lives and lead to a balanced ecosystem.
Today, I mostly paint with Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, and I paint images of animals and portraits of people. One contemporary artist that has inspired my journey is Peter Pharoah, from South Africa. His use of colour to create blended backgrounds and at the same time, create feelings of emotion is something I have tried to experiment within my art. He also paints wildlife and uses similar techniques that are important to my work, such as using a lot of paint and excess canvass to create texture in the background of my art. I prefer to make these because they show another perspective of art other than the traditional style of Painting in my country, Rwanda.