INGOMA NSHYA: "NEW DRUM / NEW POWER"
"When you forgive, you move forward.”
- Odile Gakire Katese
For centuries in Rwanda, drumming was an activity reserved exclusively for men. Women were not permitted to touch the drums or even approach the drummers.
In 2004, Odile Gakire Katese created the first-ever Rwandan female drumming ensemble, Ingoma Nshya - which is Kinyarwanda for "New Drum" or "New Power". After the near-collapse of Rwanda in the wake of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis, many Rwandan men were either dead, or in prison. A group of women decided it was time for a change, for the sake of the country, and, in particular, for the sake of its girls and women.
"I never like to describe ourselves as Hutus and Tutsis, and we never came together as Tutsi and Hutu. We came as women. But we were also different. We had kids of perpetrators, we had widows, we had orphans, but this was not relevant on the stage." - Kiki Katese
Ingoma Nshya is a visionary grass roots project with multiple goals – healing, reconciliation, women’s social and financial empowerment, and artistic excellence. For the women, the group has been a place to begin to live again, to build new relationships, to heal the wounds of the past.
"In the beginning, I was afraid of being part of the group because of what my community would say about me, until I later discovered that it is something that could transform my life from being just a girl confined in her home...” - Clementine Uwamariya
For these women, culture is a driving force that allows them to emerge from the devastation of genocide, and to create a new future.
“We have studied with master teachers in styles from Rwanda, Burundi and around East Africa. We perform these traditional rhythms - but we also create our own, new music style.” - Odile Gakire Katese
Ingoma Nshya is now a company of 20 professional drummers -
together, they are a potent symbol of a society’s ability to heal, move forward, and create hope.
"We are the first female drummers in Rwanda… There is always a lot of audience, because people want to see if women can really drum. Maybe the men are afraid that in the future we will play better than them!” - Jackie Umubyeyi
- Odile Gakire Katese
For centuries in Rwanda, drumming was an activity reserved exclusively for men. Women were not permitted to touch the drums or even approach the drummers.
In 2004, Odile Gakire Katese created the first-ever Rwandan female drumming ensemble, Ingoma Nshya - which is Kinyarwanda for "New Drum" or "New Power". After the near-collapse of Rwanda in the wake of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis, many Rwandan men were either dead, or in prison. A group of women decided it was time for a change, for the sake of the country, and, in particular, for the sake of its girls and women.
"I never like to describe ourselves as Hutus and Tutsis, and we never came together as Tutsi and Hutu. We came as women. But we were also different. We had kids of perpetrators, we had widows, we had orphans, but this was not relevant on the stage." - Kiki Katese
Ingoma Nshya is a visionary grass roots project with multiple goals – healing, reconciliation, women’s social and financial empowerment, and artistic excellence. For the women, the group has been a place to begin to live again, to build new relationships, to heal the wounds of the past.
"In the beginning, I was afraid of being part of the group because of what my community would say about me, until I later discovered that it is something that could transform my life from being just a girl confined in her home...” - Clementine Uwamariya
For these women, culture is a driving force that allows them to emerge from the devastation of genocide, and to create a new future.
“We have studied with master teachers in styles from Rwanda, Burundi and around East Africa. We perform these traditional rhythms - but we also create our own, new music style.” - Odile Gakire Katese
Ingoma Nshya is now a company of 20 professional drummers -
together, they are a potent symbol of a society’s ability to heal, move forward, and create hope.
"We are the first female drummers in Rwanda… There is always a lot of audience, because people want to see if women can really drum. Maybe the men are afraid that in the future we will play better than them!” - Jackie Umubyeyi
INGOMA NSHYA: photos
INGOMA NSHYA: PRESS / QUOTES
"When the women drum, their performance is ecstatic. You know the moment when you are so happy, you cannot hide your smile? This is that moment. You will not be able to sit still.”
- Felicity Thompson, b there magazine, Belgium
"Bound together by loss and necessity, these extraordinary women are creating a space in which female Rwandan artists can be free to create”
- Search for Common Ground, USA
“As part of their audience, you are given unbounded joy, alongside a deep, undeniable commitment to the possibility of a better future. It’s pure magic.”
- Ross Manson, Volcano Theatre, Toronto
“Explosive rhythms!”
- Huffington Post
"Sheer abandon!"
- Umuvugizi
“an incredible drumming performance”
- TEDWomen
- Felicity Thompson, b there magazine, Belgium
"Bound together by loss and necessity, these extraordinary women are creating a space in which female Rwandan artists can be free to create”
- Search for Common Ground, USA
“As part of their audience, you are given unbounded joy, alongside a deep, undeniable commitment to the possibility of a better future. It’s pure magic.”
- Ross Manson, Volcano Theatre, Toronto
“Explosive rhythms!”
- Huffington Post
"Sheer abandon!"
- Umuvugizi
“an incredible drumming performance”
- TEDWomen
INGOMA NSHYA: ARTICLES / interviews
CNN - Inside Africa:
"These are ground-breaking women..."
THE NEW TIMES - Rwanda's Leading Daily: Meet the Women Drumming Their Way to Prosperity
"‘Ingoma Nshya’ troupe is Rwanda’s first ever women’s drumming group which actively involves women’s participation in the development of Rwanda through cultural preservation. The troupe comprises of survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and relatives of Genocide perpetrators."
THE EAST AFRICAN: Women drumming away the trauma of genocide
“This drumming team brought back hope to me. I used to dwell on my loneliness and how my children were going to survive, but once I started drumming with other women, I began to feel happy...”
THE NEW TIMES - Rwanda's Leading Daily: Gakire on Impact of Ingoma Nshya and Book of Life
“The first time that we touched the drums something magical happened: we were thinking that this is forbidden for women but it was so much fun and we didn’t expect the joy that we had. "
TOM TOM MAG: Feminist Kiki Katese Is Revamping Traditional Drumming in Rwanda
"At the time, I was working at the University Center for Arts and Drama at the University of Rwanda. I noticed that women were quite absent in the cultural landscape of Rwanda. Yes, you could find them in dancing, but you didn’t really find them in other traditional fields, including the most common form of entertainment in Rwanda: drumming. As a woman, I wanted to take ownership of the drum in a new, different, feminine way." - Odile Gakire Katese
FRANCE 24 - THE OBSERVERS: Rwandan women drum up hope in the Great Lakes region
"Katese brought together women — both Tutsi and Hutu — from low-income communities, none of whom had any musical background... They were immediately a big hit: in just one year, they played in DR Congo, Senegal, the Netherlands, and the United States."
"These are ground-breaking women..."
THE NEW TIMES - Rwanda's Leading Daily: Meet the Women Drumming Their Way to Prosperity
"‘Ingoma Nshya’ troupe is Rwanda’s first ever women’s drumming group which actively involves women’s participation in the development of Rwanda through cultural preservation. The troupe comprises of survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and relatives of Genocide perpetrators."
THE EAST AFRICAN: Women drumming away the trauma of genocide
“This drumming team brought back hope to me. I used to dwell on my loneliness and how my children were going to survive, but once I started drumming with other women, I began to feel happy...”
THE NEW TIMES - Rwanda's Leading Daily: Gakire on Impact of Ingoma Nshya and Book of Life
“The first time that we touched the drums something magical happened: we were thinking that this is forbidden for women but it was so much fun and we didn’t expect the joy that we had. "
TOM TOM MAG: Feminist Kiki Katese Is Revamping Traditional Drumming in Rwanda
"At the time, I was working at the University Center for Arts and Drama at the University of Rwanda. I noticed that women were quite absent in the cultural landscape of Rwanda. Yes, you could find them in dancing, but you didn’t really find them in other traditional fields, including the most common form of entertainment in Rwanda: drumming. As a woman, I wanted to take ownership of the drum in a new, different, feminine way." - Odile Gakire Katese
FRANCE 24 - THE OBSERVERS: Rwandan women drum up hope in the Great Lakes region
"Katese brought together women — both Tutsi and Hutu — from low-income communities, none of whom had any musical background... They were immediately a big hit: in just one year, they played in DR Congo, Senegal, the Netherlands, and the United States."