Cynthia Butare

When Butare relocated to Rwanda in December 2014, the move was initially intended to be temporary. However, as opportunities continued to emerge, she found herself increasingly rooted in the country's creative sector. She began working in mid-2015, joining Illume Creative Studio as an in-house videographer in July 2015. After holding this role for approximately one year, she transitioned to freelance work for three years, taking on projects across visual media and communication.

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Between 2019 and 2023, Butare worked as a Communication Analyst at the Rwanda Development Board, contributing to content production for the Visit Rwanda campaign. This included work related to international partnerships with Arsenal F.C., Paris Saint-Germain, and the Basketball Africa League. She was also involved in communication efforts surrounding the launch of the Rwanda Film Office's first call for film projects in September 2022. Working on these high-profile projects gave her insight into how decisions are made around budgets and resources, knowledge that would prove essential in her later work as a creative director. At the same time, the experience strengthened her desire to affirm herself more deliberately within Rwanda's creative sector, not just as a contributor to institutional campaigns but as someone shaping her own vision.

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During this period, Butare began pursuing photography more intentionally, shifting her focus towards photographic work beyond commissioned media projects. Rooted in documentary observation, her work focuses on real, unposed moments shaped by time, proximity, and presence. Working with her camera across candid scenes and portraiture, she is drawn to the in-between states where people become comfortable and moments unfold naturally, often after extended familiarity rather than immediate capture. Her practice moves between everyday scenes and one-on-one encounters, reflecting an interest in how people inhabit spaces and situations when the camera fades into the background.

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Her first public exhibition came in December 2022, when she participated in What Do You See, a group exhibition curated by Nelson Niyakire and Vivaldi Ngenzi. This marked a turning point in her practice, establishing photography as central to her professional identity.

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In December 2023, Butare founded Imigani, bringing together the documentary sensibility developed during her studies, the strategic communication skills honed at the Rwanda Development Board, and her photographic practice. The platform serves a dual purpose: operating as grassroots media documenting Rwanda's creative sector while also offering B2B communication services that translate creative industry insights into strategic campaigns for clients. This structure allows her to draw inspiration from the artists, makers, and cultural practitioners she documents and channel that energy into commercial creative work. Through Imigani, she now operates as a creative director, making the kind of editorial and budgetary decisions she once observed from within institutional structures.