Visual investegations at the site of violence. Nearly twenty five
years since the Rwandan genocide has passed, yet to this day,
the country still struggles creating a unified identity, free of
colonial ties. A divide created by outsiders and perpetuated by
the media, has left the many inhabitants of Rwanda scarred.
Today, children and young adults make up nearly half of the
population of 12 million. Forty percent of the population lives
below the poverty line, and only thirteen percent of the
population has access to electricity. There has been a
disconnect as a result of the genocide, many young people
lacking the stories and history that their culture has been built
upon, the dividing lines between Hutu and Tutsi ever-present. While freedom of speech and press is recognized, there are some exceptions. Many journalists have faced government harassment, especially relating to issues on identity and the genocide, leading many to self-censor. While local publishing houses and artist collectives have risen in popularity, they still remain relatively small and inaccessible. As a response, this architectural intervention proposes a pop-up media center that evades government detection, to allow artisans, journalists, and young people to create work outside of top-down censorship that reaches not only local Rwandans, but Rwandans across africa who have been displaced since the genocide diaspora.