ICTJ is pleased to present the KickStarter campaign to launch the Iriba Center for Multimedia Heritage in Kigali, Rwanda. The Iriba Center, whose name means “the source,” is a project to make accessible an audiovisual history of Rwanda, to “keep the country’s history alive.” It will gather films, photographs, and audio recordings from the start of colonial rule in East Africa to the present day and make them available to the public.
The Iriba Center is an extension of the work of documentary filmmaker Anne Aghion, who has directed and produced several films about the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Her work, as well as the center, aims “to foster discussion about coexistence.” Through the documentation of the grassroots community Gacaca courts, her most recent film, “My Neighbor, My Killer,” captures “the emotional journey to coexistence.”
Assumpta Mugiraneza, who will serve as the Iriba Center’s director, said “As we build Rwanda, it is so important for us to learn from our common history, and we hope Iriba becomes...a welcoming place for all Rwandans.”
The site, which will be free to all Rwandans, will offer individual screening stations as well as class and group programs. There is also a plan to send mobile cinema programs into rural communities where most Rwandans live.
The makers of the Iriba Center have launched a KickStarter campaign, a fundraising effort to cover costs such as building renovations, administrative and specialist consulting fees, and other development expenses. KickStarter is an all or nothing funding platform; if they don’t reach their fundraising goal of $40,000, contributions will be returned to donors. Fundraising ends August 21.
“Please help us make this happen. Join us, give what you can, and spread the word as far and wide as you can… help make the center come to life,” Aghion said.
Read more about the Iriba Center’s KickStarter campaign.
