In January 2019, Christian Nyampeta and Isaie Nzeyimana of the Nyanza Working Group co-convened a conference on the occasion of World Philosophy Day, an event organized annually by the National Commission of UNESCO, in collaboration with ARPHI (the Association Rwandaise des Philosophes).
This year’s theme was the relationship between art and philosophy, and it was hosted by the Grand Séminaire Philosophicum de Kabgayi St. Thomas Aquinas. Guests included Archbishop Smaragde Mbonyintege, Senator Laurent Nkusi, members of the philosophers’ association, artists, and faculty from various universities.
The Postcard Method
The majority of the guests were current students of the Grand Seminary, who are future priests. The conference was organized following what Nzeyimana and Nyampeta call the “postcard method.” In the preceding months, they visited artists and philosophers across the country, and they held recorded conversations with our hosts on themes of translation, memory, and education. During the conference—with the use of two simultaneous projectors—we screened the results, with audio and video fragments on one projector, and highlights from the transcripts of their visits on the other.
World Philosophy Day, Kabgayi, Rwanda, January 23, 2019. Convened by Dr. Isaïe Nzeyimana and Christian Nyampeta. Organized by UNESCO, Kabgayi Philosophicum, and ARPHI.