Making Sense: A Rwandan Story is a collaborative project and exhibition, inspired by a visit the artist Helen Wilson made to Rwanda in 2002. At its heart are twelve large-scale paintings, which together tell a powerful and moving story of personal dignity, courage and survival. Helen Wilson has been painting images of Rwanda since the 1994 genocide, which claimed the lives of over a million people in 100 days. Having now met survivors and visited the genocide sites, she has produced new works that show both the beauty of Rwanda and the resilience of its people in the face of a massive human tragedy.

“Trying to make sense of what happened in Rwanda has been at the heart of my work for nearly a decade. I want to express through this project as much as possible about Rwanda as it is today - the beauty and the tragedy, and the dignity and grace of its people in the aftermath of the genocide. I am not a politician or a journalist, but I can paint. That’s my communication tool. I want to represent what I saw clearly and accurately, to offer understanding and hope for the future”

Helen Wilson

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda claimed the lives of over a million people in 100 days. Nearly ten years on the human truths behind the horror are still being revealed. A desire to learn more about what happened in Rwanda led artist Helen Wilson to travel there in 2002 to meet survivors and to visit genocide sites. Her visit has inspired a series of new paintings, which together tell a powerful and moving story of human courage and survival, capturing both the beauty of Rwanda and the resilience of its people in the face of a massive human tragedy.

Fergal Keane, the distinguished news correspondent and writer who has reported on and written extensively about Rwanda over the last decade, introduces the catalogue.

The exhibition is accompanied by a documentary film about the artist’s work on this project produced by award-winning cameraman Mike Fox and BBC director Kate Broome, who have previously made television programmers together in Rwanda.

The Making Sense a Rwandan Story paintings are current held at the Embassy of Rwanda,  London while awaiting permanently display in Rwanda, Africa.
Making Sense a Rwanda Story Catalogues (second edition) are available on request.