The exhibition “Mapping Memory - Atlas of Rwandan Life Stories” was presented twice. The first one took place in Montreal at the Center of Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS) and Acts of Listening Lab (ALLab) of Concordia University from April 28 to May 18, 2023. This exhibition received more than 260 visitors. The second one took place at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi (Rwanda) from June 7 to June 16, 2024. It received hundreds of visitors.
The exhibition aimed to offer an immersion into the world of memory maps. It presented a selection of maps from 21 life stories of Rwandan exiles collected by the Center of Oral History and Digital Storytelling and Page Rwandan Association from the year 2009 to 2012. These stories were mapped during the years 2017 and 2022 using two different and complementary cartographic approaches: (1) The Digital Atlas of Rwandan Life Stories: this Atlas presented the maps of 21 life stories produced by Atlascine, an open-source free cartographic tool that was specifically designed for this project. This online Atlas provided a spatial synthesis of each life story, connected and structured places with themes, and allowed users to listen each story and navigate within and between them. (2) The subjective Atlas: This Atlas is made of hand-drawn and hand-painted maps offering an emotional and intimate voyage into the story of Emannuelle Kayiganwa. While the Digital Atlas of Rwanda invited us to explore the surface of these 21 life stories, the Subjective Atlas immersed us into the depth of one specific story.
By presenting these two complementary Atlases, the exhibition followed three main objectives: (1) sharing the memories of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda to a range of audiences, in particular to students and to the youth of the Rwandan community, (2) reflecting on the potentials and limits of maps for representing memories, and (3) sharing the results of several years of research on the relationship between maps and memories.
This exhibition was curated by Sébastien Caquard and Élise Olmedo, in collaboration with Page Rwanda Association of Montreal and more particularly with Emmanuelle Kayiganwa, Marie-Josée Gicali and Sandra Gasana who organized the personalized tours of the exhibition. Sarah Bengle was in charge of the graphic design and of the scenography. This exhibition was made possible with the help of many other people: Kassy Irebe (translation and exhibition guide), Marie Lavorel (Scenography), Sepideh Shahamati (selection of content and video editing), Kelley O'Rourke (translation and editing), Vitalyi Bulychev (video editing and technical support), and Gladys Nteziryayo (exhibition guides).
For the Montreal exhibition we would like to also thank Elliot Lordon (design and editing), Piyusha Chatterjee (logistical support), and Lisa Ndejuru (psychological support), as well as the Core Technical Center of Concordia University’s Library, Exarmas and the Passages Laboratory of Bordeaux Montaigne University (France).
For the Kigali Exhibition we would like to thank the AEGIS Trust Team at the Gisozi Memorial and more specifically Freddy Mutanguha, Aude Kamanzi, Didier Rutagungira, Dieudonné Nagiriwubuntu and Oscar Twizerimana.
This exhibition has been prepared on the non-ceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory in Tiohtiá:ke / Montréal.
