Blueing Hope

Africa is known for its bold, unapologetic use of colour. Stories are told in pigments, tones and hues; a kaleidoscope as diverse as the cultures and peoples of the continent. For the initiative Colours of Africa, a collaborative project with Google Arts & Culture, we asked 60 African creatives to capture the unique spirit of their country in a colour which represents home to them.

The projects they have created are personal and distinct stories of Africa, put into images, videos, texts and illustrations. Each artist has also attempted to articulate what being African means to their identity and view of the world.

Colour:Indigo Dawn
Country:Rwanda

Artwork Rationale:

The first ray of the sun is the universal symbol of hope, but the calm blue of the dawn remains the symbol of opportunity and a new beginning for me. It is a gentle reminder of a chance we have to begin afresh; an open invitation to try again to correct what we haven't done properly in the past, and do better today.

A calm blue messenger paves the way before the sun rises. It is this messenger that carries the good news of a new beginning and lays the foundations on which the hope brought by the first ray of sun stands. We feel fortified to face the reality ahead of us.

The blue just before unifies the ideas of hope and new beginnings, and carries our dreams into our waking days. Though dreams that are restricted only to Africa, for me it means much more to a continent often described as the Dark Continent.
Blue is new life.
Blue is life.

What it means to be African

For me, being African is to be constantly misunderstood, constantly caught in tensions between what one is and what one is perceived to aspire to. Like a soldier on the battlefield, being African means to relentlessly fight hopelessness and despair. To – against all odds – emerge hopeful for the potential to fundamentally change the way we think about, understand, interact, and integrate our own lives with Africa.

Biography

Christian Benimana joined MASS Design Group in 2010 as a Global Health Corps Design Fellow and is currently the principal and managing director in Rwanda. He also leads the African Design Centre, a field-based apprenticeship fellowship programme to train top design talent on the continent in impact-based methods, and is the secretary general of the East Africa Institute of Architects.

Benimana was a fellow at the Aspen Ideas Festival: Spotlight Health in 2014 and a TED speaker at the TED Global conference in Arusha in 2017. He has been involved with design/build and consultancy projects across many countries in Africa, development initiatives, and operational and administration leadership as well as with teaching at the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology.

He has worked on designs in varying capacities for the Rwinkwavu Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the University of Global Health Equity, and the Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering and E-Health projects. He has also worked on the Liberia Health Infrastructure Standards and Guidelines for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and a master plan for the Albert Schweitzer hospital in Lambarene, Gabon.

Benimana was a designer on the Rwinkwavu NICU/OR project, project manager for the construction administration of the Maternity Waiting Village project in Malawi. In addition, he has worked on the Liberia Health Infrastructure Standards and Guidelines for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and a master plan for the Albert Schweitzer hospital in Lambarene, Gabon.

MASS Design Group began in 2008 during the design and building of the Butaro District Hospital in Rwanda; a project of Partners In Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health. Since then, MASS has expanded to work on three continents with projects spanning the design of buildings, research, policy, education, and strategic planning. Their work seeks to provide infrastructure, buildings, and the human and physical systems necessary for growth, dignity and well-being.

Benimana holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University in Shanghai, China, and worked with LongiLat Architecture and Research in Shanghai prior to joining MASS.