On Culture: Sara Koul

Community Ties

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear Rwanda is about the great devastating genocide that occurred in 1994, depicted in the movies, "Hotel Rwanda", and "Sometimes in April". There was an exploitation and intensified division between Tutsi and Hutu over power over the country. The minority Tutsi, had controlled power for centuries, and the majority Hutu peoples, had come to power in the rebellion of 1959–62 and wanted to overthrow the Tutsi monarchy. The assassination of President, Habyarimana in April 1994 sparked a violent reaction, where Hutu's mass murdered Tutu’s of an estimated 1 million people over the course of 100 days. This was an awful, gruesome, devastating time for the people of Rwanda and I can't imagine going through that. As humans we need to go through a healing process when we witness devastation and destruction. In contrast we here in Joplin have gone through the devastating tornado that came through Joplin killing 162 people.  We too, ourselves are going through a healing process. We both in contrast have created a mural to desensitize the devastation that occurred and focus on the re-building and healing of the city and create hope again in the people.

The Rwanda Healing Project: Lily Yeh, founder of Barefoot Artists, working with genocide survivors in the Rugerero District near Gisenyi in 2004 completed murals that were designed and painted on the mud brick homes of the village. Concept: healing and transformation of individuals, families and community. Healing through remembering, Healing through art, Healing through creating hope for the future.

Joplin Mural : The Butterfly Effect: “Our project has always been centered around the opportunity for community driven art to inspire, remember, and envision. As Joplin begins its long process of recovery, our project and how it can engage the community, may be more relevant and useful, pertinent and powerful than we could have imagined.”
 –Dave Loewenstein