7/29/2019 Poetry Rwanda

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26 THE INDEPENDENT November 11 - 17, 2011

CulTure

BY CASSANDRA LUKWAGO

I

ts Wednesday and this is the placeto be, says a young woman as shewalks into Shooters Lounge in Kigalifor a night of poetry. Spoken Word,explains co-founders Bey Tushabe

Diana Mpyisi, began as a small ven-ture but has gathered considerable mo-mentum since its launch in July.

For Bey, a lawyer, it was a love of poetryand writing that propelled her to developthe idea. When she watched Love Jones,a romantic lm that depicts people free-styling their words on stage, she explains,it was so beautiful and creative [that] ithit me, we can actually have this in Rwan-da and people can actually do this, shesays. What caught my eye even more [inthe lm], were the friends, seated in theaudience, having an argument or ratherdiscussing the poem as it was performed.

Diana, for her part, has always beenactively involved in media and was a proj-ect ocer for Rwanda Speaks! a youthinitiative under Imbuto Foundation thatwas designed to enhance public speaking.Diana says she has long wanted to contrib-ute to the development of the arts and the-atre industry in Rwanda.

In the beginning there were concernsthat only a small, select crowd would par-ticipate. However, through word of mouthand a healthy following on Facebook, thenews spread. People would come for asession and return the next week with afriend or too. There were also some poetry

lovers from other countries who had beenlooking for this kind of forum.

The weekly sessions take place at Shoot-ers Lounge, a comfortable bar-restaurantwith low sofas and tables, which are sec-tioned o with a small central dance areathat provides the stage. When the recitalsstart, people move their stools closer tothe stage. The lights are soft, which setsthe ideal mood for the performers whenthey step up to recite. Spectators can havedrinks and snacks as they listen.

The performances basically consist ofsongs, poems and beat boxing, which are

done in French, English and Kinyarwan-da. When the rst performer steps up toshare their poem, they are welcomed withapplause, which is followed by a collectivesilence. Everyone who performs makes itthata performance. It is not a stoic read-ing of verses. Even the non-French speak-ers are entertained by poems recited inFrench for the feeling with which they aredelivered.

The audience can become remarkablycaptivated during the performance. Beyshares that some acts have been so mov-

ing they have made members of the audi-ence cry. Moreover, some of the recitalsare quite personal and performers are notimmune to pre-show jiers before theytake the stage. Naleli Rugege, a fashiondesigner, concurs that she gets very ner-vous before she performs but explains anamazing adrenaline rush often follows thesensation.

After the rst number of recitals thereis an interlude where the audience getsinvolved in dierent types of communalgames. The break also provides the audi-ence with an opportunity to say hello tofriends. Although its a big enough crowd,

there seems to be a sense of family amongthe people; one performer is congratulatedon the birth of a child and another mock-ingly berated for staying away too long.

Contrary to what one would expect, thecrowd is made up of people of variousages: school kids, young corporate typesin suits and the elderly. Bey says that thedierence in age has proved particularlyinteresting on certain nights, such as whenthe theme of the evening was love.

According to Bey the adolescents pre-sented their poems on the hopes of nd-

ing love, the young adults on the failuresand emotional carnage love has put themthrough and the elderly on its true exis-tence.

Some of the other themes that have beenexplored in the past are friendship,who am I? and Rwanda night. Eachweek the themes are posted on Facebook.However, at the moment Spoken Word istaking a break from the themes to allowfor more exibility in the performances.Sometimes people just want to recitewhat inspires them most, says Bey.

Media consultant and regular SpokenWord participant Rama Isibo nds theevent inspiring. He says Rwanda has ahistory of poetry that has been forgoenand this is a great way to revive it. SpokenWord also involves talking about your lin-eage, which shows how you are aachedto other people. There is so much thatneeds to be spoken about, he says. It isa good place to express yourself, in a safeenvironment among friends.

As a result of the enthusiasm that hasgreeted the event, the founders now planto publish an anthology of poems. This issomething unique, since there has been no

collection of poems from Rwandan youthbefore, and also because this is one wayof contributing to the growing number ofyoung authors from Rwanda, explainsDiana.

The founders are also planning for a lit-erary concert in December where otherpoets from the region will be invited.The next step now is to keep up with themomentum, says Bey. Spoken Word hasplans to be around for a long time.

WEDNESDAYS

WORDS

Poetry is bloomingin Kigali

Carole Karemera reciting a poem