Art Galleries in Kigali: A Self-Guided Walk
This art galleries in Kigali self-guided walk is perfect to experience the best of the city’s unique art. You’ll visit 6 art galleries, 3 craft shops, and a bookstore over 5km. The loop can be done in either direction—both the starting and ending points offer food and chill vibes.
I’ve done this route on a weekday. On the weekends, some galleries may open later or host events.
Overview
- 5km walking distance
- 5+ hours
- 6 galleries
- Free (except for 1 gallery)
- 2 cafe options
- Great activity for locals and visitors alike
Each stop is about a 10-15 minute walk from the other. Be sure to follow the route on the map. (There is a dead end between MADS Kigali and Ivuka Arts if you follow Google Maps).
All the galleries are free except for one.
The tour will take about 5 hours or more, depending on how long you stop for breakfast and lunch. Plan to spend 10–20 minutes at each gallery, more if you like to chat with artists or browse slowly.
Tips for the Walk
- Wear comfortable shoes as you’ll be walking up some light hills and go on a few dirt roads.
- Bring water and a hat on a hot day.
- Bring cash or use MoMo for any small purchases. If you want to buy a painting, most have credit card machines.
Art Galleries in Kigali Stops
Niyo Arts Center
Start at Niyo for breakfast, juice (or just the gallery). You’ll be amazed from the minute you get out of your transportation. The entire driveway of the gallery is covered in gorgeous colors.
Start off by ordering breakfast. Walk around the gallery while you wait for your food. There are several rooms to wander through.
No pics allowed inside the gallery.
Then, continue to Inking Arts Space.
Inkingi Arts Space
This nice gallery has a couple of rooms and some cool graffiti art on the walls around.
In between Inkingi and MADS, stop in at Karssh Collections for locally made Rwandan clothing.
MADS Kigali
Continue down to MADS. We had such a great experience here. The gallery staff were very welcoming and shared information about each of the artists as we walked around. There were also artists working in the studio room.
NP Arts Center
Walk back up towards Inkingi and then walk on the dirt road towards NP Arts Center. I just love how the art galleries in Kigali are so colorful.
At this point, I started to recognize some of the artists shown in the other galleries as well. Each gallery has its own style of showcasing the artists, and I found unique pieces at each.
If you visit on the weekend, you may see their community activities in action.
Inema Arts Center
Inema Arts Center is one of the oldest art galleries in Kigali. It charges an entrance fee of 15,000 RWF (and includes a cup of coffee). The gallery manager told us that the Inema founders trained all the artists who opened up galleries around the area!
Inzora Rooftop Cafe – Lunch Stop
You’ve made it to lunch! Inzora Rooftop Cafe is hosted atop a bookshop. Place your food order first and then wander around the bookshop. The cafe may be crowded around 12-1pm so you may wait a bit for your food if so.
I’ve had the carrot sandwich with salad and the carrot-lox bagel. I love both! Get one of the good-looking desserts too.
The bookshop has books in English and French. It also has a good selection of art supplies.
This notebook really stood out to me.
Azizi Life Studio
Just up the road from Inzora are three shops with local handicrafts. Check them out. Azizi also hosts workshops for traditional handicrafts like painting and weaving.
Uzurki K&Y
Then, continue to Uzurki K&Y for Rwandan-designed and made sandals to elevate your style.
Isaro Art Gallery and Handicraft
Finally, visit Isaro.
To be honest with you, we were pretty tired after visiting Azizi and took a taxi home from there as there were several hanging around. However, next time I’ll continue on.
Now, you’re done! End and head back your accommodation to rest.
p.s. I got my shirt at another art gallery, not on this list, at Concepts Art Studio.