The Ministry of Youth, the Ministry of Sports and Culture ,in partnership with imbuto Foundation launched ArtRwanda-Ubuhanzi talent search project at the Kigali Cultural Village. ArtRwanda-Ubuhanzi is a project aimed at identifying and supporting young and talented Rwandans within the Creative art industry.

During the road trip selection, youth are invited to audition at each of the selection sites ( Kayonza, Musanze, Rubavu,Huye,Rusizi,Kigali ) and display their talents to a panel of judges, who will eliminate contestants based on the quality of the talent displayed. Following this phase, only 120 contestants will move to the next phase.

On 13 and 14 October 2018, ArtRwanda - Ubuhanzi hosted 587 contestants to a pre - selection phase, at Cenetra Hotel, in Kigali.

The pre-selection phase was attended by all contestants, who got passess from the road trips auditions who displayed their talents to different panels of judges, grouped per category and field of expertise. The following art categories were considered : Plastic Arts, Dance and Music, Fashion, Acting and Drama, Cinematography and Photography, and Literature.

From the 587 who auditioned, 70 contestants representing all the categories were selected to continue to the next phase, which is the boot camp. Each category was represented by the first 10 best contestants, with an exception for the Dance and Music category, which had 20 representatives, as it was the category that had more contestants than all the others (half of the total number of contestants who auditioned).

The bootcamp phase is designed to develop the individual talents of the 70 remaining contestants, after which they are placed into groups across categories to foster multidisciplinary development of the arts.

The 30 remaining contestants will be placed into 6 groups per artistic category. The groups will then be given a challenge :
– Develop a project that is both artistic, generates income and sustainability and employment for youth in a specific creative arts industry.

The groups’ project will be assessed on both the quality of the talent showcased, as well as the entrepreneurial potential of their collaboration, which has the ability to generate income. Contestants will present to the judges with a preliminary version of their final performances. The judges will give feedback, as well as assess the teams on the quality of the talents showcased, and the viability of each specific project for revenue and job creation.

The Youth Forum Series (YFS) will feature discussions and exchanges between youth and stakeholders, from the public and private sphere, on investing in the creative arts industry, nurturing relevant talent among youth in Rwanda and protecting their artwork as intellectual property.

During this event, 69 finalists will present and showcase their talent and artwork in plastic arts, dance and music, fashion, acting and drama, photography and cinematography and literature, as well as group projects - in order to compete for the final prizes of RWF 1 million (individuals per category) and RWF 10 million (group projects).