A Rwandan Angel

After researching and seeing the art of some of Rwanda’s great visual artists I was inspired by the colors of Pascal Bushayija with his lovely Earthy colors and the technique of paper collage by Crista Uwase.

I looked for images of Rwandan women dressed in their traditional dress. It is called Umushanana and consists of a long skirt gathered at the hips, a bodice and a scarf draped over one shoulder, the fabric can be any colour, and is generally lightweight to accentuate the draping effect. They look so beautiful:

I really loved these Earthy colors:

And then I saw the hair style of these women:

I absolutely loved it! It turned out to be a traditional headpiece worn by royal woman in the past. The entire headpiece is called ”Ibyanganga.” The diadem which passes through the forehead is called ”Icyanganga”, the one contouring the hair ”Urugori” and the double stick is called ”Intambi” and is only worn by women. In current times this headpiece is worn by women on their weddings and special occasions.

This is the last Queen of Rwanda, Rosalie Gicanda, who was killed on this date during the Genocide against the Tutsis wearing her Ibyanganga:

In a way I think I was meant to honor her with my angel…

So now enjoy some photos of the process of creating Rwanda’s angel… I started by drawing…

I was very inspired by her:

Her neck must be twice as long as mine! So long and elegant! I chose to push her hair bun all the way up to almost make it look like a halo.

I traced the image on tracing paper and used it to cut the pieces. I found a shiny textured paper that I thought would be great for the scarf with the folds. It was!!!

For the wings, I searched for textured paper that was white/yellow/brown… and an article on National Geographic with photographs of mines seen from Tom Hegen were perfect! I tried to go from white to yellow and textured to smooth. It is never easy cutting pieces that are so small that have to fit. I had to repeat a few that did not go well color wise and cut wise:

Then I cut her headpiece, the dove and the slides! I really wanted to make them look like sandals, but I think my home slides may have affected the final result! ^ ^

I had the idea to place the angel in a background of newspaper clippings about its 1994 Genocide. I discovered a great old newspaper articles site: HERE. From there I found many articles, I resized them, printed them and then decided on the best composition.

I found this sheet with very uplifting words and I thought it would be great to use some of them on the newspaper clippings.

Lastly, I cut some golden paper into small pieces… I wanted to give the impression that there was a beautiful energy emanating form the Peace Dove on the angel’s hands and spreading all over… healing.

I say goodbye to the beautiful country of Rwanda with a continuing wish of healing, peace and connection! If there is a need for proof that anything is possible with love… let it manifest in Rwanda!

Thank you so much for joining me in this eyeopening virtual journey of the Rwanda.