Rwanda Art Museum

The Rwanda Art Museum is housed in the former Presidential Palace at Kanombe, near Kigali International Airport. The building served as the presidential residence from the 1970s until late 2000, later opened as the Presidential Palace Museum, and on 18 May 2018 became the national art museum. It is an unusual combination: a modern art collection inside a house with a very heavy history.

The galleries show contemporary work by Rwandan and international artists, alongside temporary and travelling exhibitions. There is a dedicated room where members of Rwanda's federation of artists can show their work, and an Art Kids' Studio for younger visitors. The building itself can still be explored, and its rooms give a sense of how the palace was used.

In the grounds lies wreckage of the Falcon 50 presidential jet that was shot down on 6 April 1994 as it approached Kigali, killing the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi. Its downing was the event that immediately preceded the genocide. Seeing the debris here is a reminder of how close the airport is, and many visitors find it as significant as the art itself.

The museum follows the hours published by the Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy for national museums: daily from 9am to 5pm, opening at noon on Umuganda days, the last Saturday of the month, and closed on 7 April, 25 December and 1 January. Tickets are paid through Irembo, with separate rates for Rwandans and residents, other Africans and international visitors. Allow about an hour, more if a temporary exhibition is on.

Because the building was a home before it was a museum, the experience is quite different from a purpose-built gallery: you move through former living spaces, corridors and gardens rather than white exhibition halls. Take your time in the grounds as well as indoors, since the setting is part of the story the museum tells about Rwanda's recent past.

Kanombe is about 4km from the airport, which makes the museum a practical stop on an arrival or departure day if you have a few hours spare. It is further out than the central museums, so a taxi or ride-hailing car is the easiest way to get there. It suits visitors interested in both contemporary African art and modern Rwandan history.