All about the Kigali genocide Memorial center
| by Ken Ndayis | October 15, 2008
The exhibition in the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre tells the history of Rwanda leading up to genocide in 1994 and catalogues the details of the genocide using photographs, video, written accounts and a range of artifacts. It includes personal testimonies and a moving memorial to the children of the Rwandan genocide. The exhibition also has a section called “wasted lives”, which reflects on the holocausts and genocides in Armenia, South-West Africa, Bosnia and Cambodia. The Kigali Memorial Centre has gained a word-wide reputation for the powerful exhibition and its work in promoting peace.
The center has a shop which provides visitors the opportunity to purchase items that provide a lasting memory of their visit to the Kigali Memorial canter. Books, T-shirts, images and souvenir memorial items are all available. Many are made specifically for the shop by orphans of the genocide. The proceeds from sales support the orphans, ‘secure livelihood programme’ and the maintenance of the memorial gardens.
Next the building visitor can see the mass graves which contain the bodies or bones of thousands of people killed in the genocide. The Bodies have been exhumed from mass graves around the city of Kigali and brought to a central resting place at the Kigali Memorial centre. The Anonymity of those laid to rest in these mass graves serves to remind Rwandan people how genocide removed individuality from people by murdering an entire group. The gardens provide visitors and survivors with a place for quite reflection and contemplation.
The documentation center in the building houses permanent records of the Genocide including the following collections: audiovisual and written testimonies; film and audio archives, genocide mapping and photographic records. Work is underway to develop a resource centre and detailed database to provide a world wide research centre. The octagonal viewing room is used for evening film screenings. The room can comfortably hold up to 80 people seated and can be hired for personal events. Private talks about genocide experiences and film screenings can also be organized for groups.
After the visit
The Kigali Memorial center café provides visitors with a place to sit after Visit. Drinks, snacks and meals are available, all freshly prepared at the centre. Visitors can spend as little or as long a time in the café as they wish, to take a break from the highly emotional tour of the centre.
The Kigali memorial center is open to visitors every day of the week from 8.30am. Last entrance is at 4 pm and the centre closes at 5pm. It is closed on public holidays and until 2 pm on the last Saturday of each month so that staff can participate in the community service Umuganda.
Guides are available to take visitors around the center and gardens, and the tour is available in Kinyarwanda, English and French. There is no formal charge for the service but visitor are invited to make a donation.
Rwanda tours .Rwanda tour . . Gorilla tour .
The center has a shop which provides visitors the opportunity to purchase items that provide a lasting memory of their visit to the Kigali Memorial canter. Books, T-shirts, images and souvenir memorial items are all available. Many are made specifically for the shop by orphans of the genocide. The proceeds from sales support the orphans, ‘secure livelihood programme’ and the maintenance of the memorial gardens.
Next the building visitor can see the mass graves which contain the bodies or bones of thousands of people killed in the genocide. The Bodies have been exhumed from mass graves around the city of Kigali and brought to a central resting place at the Kigali Memorial centre. The Anonymity of those laid to rest in these mass graves serves to remind Rwandan people how genocide removed individuality from people by murdering an entire group. The gardens provide visitors and survivors with a place for quite reflection and contemplation.
The documentation center in the building houses permanent records of the Genocide including the following collections: audiovisual and written testimonies; film and audio archives, genocide mapping and photographic records. Work is underway to develop a resource centre and detailed database to provide a world wide research centre. The octagonal viewing room is used for evening film screenings. The room can comfortably hold up to 80 people seated and can be hired for personal events. Private talks about genocide experiences and film screenings can also be organized for groups.
After the visit
The Kigali Memorial center café provides visitors with a place to sit after Visit. Drinks, snacks and meals are available, all freshly prepared at the centre. Visitors can spend as little or as long a time in the café as they wish, to take a break from the highly emotional tour of the centre.
The Kigali memorial center is open to visitors every day of the week from 8.30am. Last entrance is at 4 pm and the centre closes at 5pm. It is closed on public holidays and until 2 pm on the last Saturday of each month so that staff can participate in the community service Umuganda.
Guides are available to take visitors around the center and gardens, and the tour is available in Kinyarwanda, English and French. There is no formal charge for the service but visitor are invited to make a donation.
Rwanda tours .Rwanda tour . . Gorilla tour .
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