In the last five to seven years, Rwanda has seen the emergence of a young fashion and design generation. Initiated by young Rwandans returning from abroad, international contacts and, thanks to the new communication technologies, people growing up in the country itself, a very creative fashion and design scene has developed thanks to the strong economic upswing after 2006. During this time, the Rwandan government also tried to tie in with old cultural values and forms in the sense of a new Rwandan identity and to promote its own "Made in Rwanda" label.

This new scene takes these traditional forms and tries to establish a new Rwandan modernity. The new label "Made in Rwanda" was quickly used as a trademark. In order to be able to compete in the international online trade, these young entrepreneurs must deliver reliable quality. In turn, they need well-trained and reliable employees. They thus create well-qualified jobs.

Thus, in a cooperation between the office of the partnership association and DESCOM in Mainz, an idea was born, according to the philosophy of our partnership with Rwanda: PRODUCTS IN DIALOGUE.

Young designers from Rhineland-Palatinate are to be brought into contact with Rwandan designers, the respective products to face each other and thus to initiate a dialogue about design. A creative encounter at eye level!

The dialogue should go beyond the products: themed design teams that support each other and help manage each other's presentation in the respective country (exchange of e-mail, Skype, WhatsApp, etc.).

On September 30, 2018, the exhibition opened in Kigali, on the occasion of the visit of Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate Malu Dreyer, and was immediately a huge success, if only because this exhibition was developed together with the Rwandan side. With relatively little financial input, a great impact was achieved.

In addition, the aim of the exhibition is to demonstrate the relevance of the industry for politics and business enterprises, to make design in general and design as an economic factor visible. There is great potential here in economic terms, both for exports and for the external representation of the country.

Here you can find the brochure about the project.

Here you can find an article about African Design 

Here you can find interviews about the fashion and design scene by Slanted.