The gallery featured a collection of 8 stories told through written accounts and video interviews. Portraits and meaningful artefacts objects belonging to the survivors said what words could not.
As you walked through the space you would weave together narratives that both unite and distinguish the survivors. Some were related by blood, others through love. Some were from the north, others from the south.
Some left Rwanda to never return, others feel a strong calling to go back.
Many are the only survivors of their immediate family.
In 1994, over a million people were murdered Rwanda during the Genocide Against the Tutsi. This was a tragic event that had a huge impact in how we define genocides, and hold perpetrators accountable.
In 2024 my sister, mother, and I began a project with the organisation Kumva & Kwibuka to celebrate the stories of survival that their speakers share in highschools around Australia. With this year being the 30 year commemoration of the tragedy, we set out to create a multimedia exhibition that showcased these stories of resilience.
Thanks to financial support from Thinkerbell and STARTTS, as well as dozens of generous donors through our crowdfunding, we were able to exhibit the work at 107 Redfern.
Scroll down for more, or click here to download the results report.
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+6000 people reached on social media, plus many others through trade media
+280 attended the exhibition over 8 days
+37 new donors
+8 survivors who feel empowered to continue telling their story
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Thank you to the Kumva & Kwibuka team: Chantal, Aggy, Nadine, Vivens, Amedee, Ladis, Olivier, Pacifique & Dr. Ari Lander.
Big thanks to STARTTS, 107, and Thinkerbell, especially to Adam, Margie, Jim, Chas and Ally.
Huge thanks to everyone who donated. This wouldn't have been possible without them, including our suppliers BrewDog, Breheny Bros, and McWilliams Wines.
Finally, thanks to my sister Martina (photographer and artist) and our mother Marina (project manager, educator).
Not only was attendance beyond what we expected, but the story got picked up by heaps of trade media outlets, and we had attendance from MP Councillor Emelda Davis, as well as the CEO of the Refugee Council.
Additionally, members of GLAPD later invited me to become the chair of their Advocacy, Media and Comms board subcommittee. Finally, we were invited to showcase the work at the upcoming Sydney Head On Festival at the end of the year.
The exhibition also showcased the impact that media propaganda had during the Genocide, particularly radio and print. You would listen to the survivors speaking through audio recordings connected to authentic vintage radios from the time, and even hear real RTLM propaganda. Historians and academics weighed in with educational context that provoked questions around the role of media in encouraging denial, avoidance, and hate.
