The Royal Crown of Rwanda and the King's Palace Museum in Nyanza 2015

Alfred Freddy Krupa made this black ink drawing of the Royal Crown of Rwanda, and the King's Palace Museum, in Nyanza, no date given. I’m imagining Freddy standing there, dipping his brush into the ink, letting it bleed and pool on the paper. The crown and the building emerge from the shadows, almost like memories surfacing. I can feel the artist’s hand in the drips and splatters, that delicate balance between control and chance. Look how the lines of the crown waver and thicken, suggesting both fragility and power. Then there's the building rendered with such simplicity, like a fleeting impression. It makes me think about the history embedded in objects and places, how an artist can capture the essence of something with just a few strokes. The way Freddy uses ink reminds me of traditional sumi-e painting. There's a conversation happening across cultures and time periods, where artists are constantly borrowing and reinterpreting. Painting lets us see and feel things in new ways. It's not just about what's depicted, but how it's depicted.