Chantal Umuhoza

Biography

As a Curator at the Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy, Chantal is responsible for the management of the collections and for organising exhibitions. She is currently coordinating a project in partnership with Google Arts and Culture with the goal of digitizing Rwandan heritage sites and cultural objects, and documenting contemporary art-making practices. She is also coordinating a project which is developing an immersive 360-degree virtual tour for ethnographic museums.

Chantal previously worked as a Curator at the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda (INMR), where she organised both temporary and permanent exhibitions, assisted with the process of acquiring new objects, and played a part in the de-accessioning process.

Chantal is interested in projects dealing with insects’ biodiversity and conservation, and is currently working on a project to create a temporary exhibition on insects at the Museum of Environment. The exhibition will aim to help visitors, especially students, learn more about insects, and the need to protect them.

Chantal is passionate about exhibitions across Rwanda; after the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda there was only one museum whereas today Chantal is part of a large team working across 8 museums under INMR.

Chantal obtained a bachelor’s degree in bio-chemistry in 2008 from the Kigali Institute of Education.

At the British Museum
During her time on the International Training Programme, Chantal was based in the Department Africa, Oceania and the Americas, and spent her partner placement at National Museums Northern Ireland.

In 2018 participants were asked to plan and propose a temporary exhibition, drawing on their existing museum experience and the skills learnt during the programme. Chantal worked with Huyam Khalid Mohammed (Sudan) on her Object in Focus project, Life after Death: A Chinese tomb figure. Chantal went on to implement a similar project in her home museum, where every exhibition has a key ‘spotlight’ object in every room.

Chantal’s place on the International Training Programme was generously supported by the Aall Foundation.

Legacy Projects
In 2020, Chantal attended the International Training Programme’s series of online subject specialist sessions. Chantal attended:
Circulating Artefacts: A global platform against the looting and trafficking of cultural property
Project management in the cultural sector: a guide to principles, processes and performance
Socio-economic Impact Assessment for Heritage: Why Do We Need to Learn This?
International copyright and artist’s rights
The Samarkand Half Marathon, cultural accessibility and ‘going digital’ during COVID-19
Setting up a Subject Specialist Network (SSN)
Skill-Sharing Workshop: Interpretation and Label Writing
Go mMAD {Make Museums Accessible Digitally}
Outreach at Glasgow Museums – what now?
Egyptology in Lockdown: Connecting collections with isolated people

ITP Newsletter Publications
ITP Newsletter Issue 6 (2019), Connectivity in the 21st century: making collections accessible, The digital story at the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda
ITP Newsletter Issue 6 (2019), Global perspectives: Engaging digitally: challenges and solutions
ITP Newsletter Issue 6 (2019), Your collection in focus: Object of the month: Institute of National Museums of Rwanda
ITP Newsletter Issue 6 (2019), Bulletin Board
ITP Newsletter Issue 7 (2020), Engaging with our audiences: Rwanda Museums
ITP Newsletter Issue 7 (2020), Your collection in focus: Inyambo, sacred cows at Rwanda Museums
ITP Newsletter Issue 7 (2020), Inclusion: The mission of Rwanda Museums
ITP Newsletter Issue 7 (2020), Bulletin Board
ITP Newsletter Issue 8 (2021), Rwanda museums
ITP Newsletter Issue 8 (2021), Bulletin Board
ITP Newsletter Issue 9 (2022), The Museum of Environment
ITP Newsletter Issue 9 (2022), Did you know that…To protect the environment, Rwanda banned the use of plastic bags in 2008?