Hewa Rwanda–Letter to the absent

Dorcy Rugamba’s Hewa Rwanda is a profoundly moving music theater tribute to his family, who were killed in their home on the first day of Rwanda’s genocide against the Tutsi. He first performed passages from his memoir Hewa Rwanda–Letter to the absent, during his inaugural international arts festival, Kigali Triennial (2024), with the creative collaboration of Senegalese multi-instrumentalist and singer Majnun.

Together at BAM they present a beautiful suite of poetry, song, and storytelling—a breathtaking ode to all those absent, to memory, culture, and to a search for spirituality in the face of unfathomable loss. Rugamba describes the piece as a “hymn to life.” As in all of Rugamba’s major works as a writer, director, and actor, Hewa Rwanda prescribes and exemplifies two paths to surviving dark times: love and creativity.