Living with Memory in Rwanda
Zoe Norridge visits Rwanda and asks how the country is coping with the memory of the 1994 genocide in which up to a million people were massacred.
Zoe Norridge reports from Rwanda as the country prepares for the 20th anniversary of genocide. Over 100 days, beginning in April 1994, up to a million people were massacred in one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.
Rwanda, a country described as a "tropical Switzerland in the heart of Africa", experienced an extraordinarily vicious genocide as Tutsis were attacked by Hutus - two groups who shared not only the same land but also the same language and similar traditions.
How does a country set about healing such trauma and what has been the role of memory and culture in the reconstruction of Rwanda?
Zoe Norridge visits several of the worst massacre sites in this small land to find out how the killings are marked and how their presence helps shape the public memory of genocide. She reports from unremarkable country hillsides whose names - like Nyarubuye and Murambi - have taken on a terrible resonance.
She talks to survivors about their stories and about how they cope with their memories. She talks to politicians, film makers, writers and to those who have helped provide a lasting memory of genocide in Rwanda. Zoe Norridge explores the role of memory and memorialisation in post genocide Rwanda, a remarkable and tragic story with significance for us all.
First broadcast in March 2014.
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Broadcasts
- Sun 2 Mar 2014 18:45´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
- Fri 12 Sep 2014 21:45´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
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