Gallery Surprise in Kigali Leads to … The Home of Edirisa!

This is a postscript to the series that marked 20 years of Edirisa and 10 years of the Gorilla Highlands Initiative. Click here for Part I.

When Antonio Chedrawy planned his return to Kigali, one special place from a previous trip was high on his agenda …

The very first to arrive for the OMG hiking challenge in Uganda and a judging gig in Rwanda, he took a couple of his buddies for a visit to Inema Arts Centre. Little did he know that he would find one of his favourite art works ever!

The painting was “Silence Helps”. Part of an 8-piece series, it is has a theme: the puzzle of life. The Rubik’s cube stands for the daily challenges we face — silence is our aid to think solutions through. The kids depicted are so absorbed that their ball gets completely forgotten.

Antonio did not plan to buy any art during the tour, yet after a week of negotiating and mulling over it, “Silence Helps” became his. But who painted it? As the organisers of the tour we were up for a surprise!

From 2004 to 2015 we ran a unique cultural centre in the town of Kabale, Uganda. We were the guardians of an amazing museum founded by the famous Festo Karwemera (his pixelated face graced the outside wall) and made a backpacker hostel with a craft shop and a balcony lounge around it. In our restaurant section there was ample room for local artists.

One of them stood out, Mark Kassi. Kabale was his hometown and even though he had graduated advanced training in textiles and fabric decoration in Kampala, he kept returning to the hills. That was before Kassi became known for his segmented painting style — at the time he was still experimenting in many directions. We felt honoured that his art graced our walls, and he was grateful for the platform we offered. It helped him decide to pursue art full time.

Kassi, 46 at present, would go on to exhibit across East Africa (and even in Norway) and Inema Arts Centre is one of the places where his works are on display.

With one purchase, Antonio connected two of our eras, and two of his continents! He was born in Ghana to Lebanese parents but now works in Dubai. When he isn’t a CFO, he is passionate about communication, travels and arts — particularly African artists. We hope “Silence Helps” adds warmth and creativity to the Chedrawy household and brings good luck to Mark Kassi.