Potential scenes are selected by all the women involved, whatever comes to mind, from aspects of Rwandan culture and things they see on a daily basis to images buried in their memories. “The process of creating a piece is first to draw inspiration from our environment, from village scenes, landscapes, animals,” Christiane says. Antelopes stand majestically before hills and forests looking off into the distance, lions stare straight out at the viewer as they would at their prey. Animated drummers play and villagers dance, and various people are captured in solo portraits, their personalities brought to the fore by the embroiderers. The works are at their most captivating when the landscape is shown in all its glory, from sprawling green plains to shimmering lakes and beautiful orange sunsets.

The embroideries of the women of Kabuye remained relatively unknown outside of the local area until a chance visit from Juliana Meehan, an educator from the US. She walked into the shop as a tourist and fell in love with every piece of work, buying all but one of them on the spot. Christiane invited Juliana and her husband to come to the workshop and see up close how the work was made. “There, in a small house of whitewashed cinder block, 15 women sat with cloth spread across their laps, patiently, expertly creating vibrant embroideries like those I had just bought,” says Juliana.