Manishimwe Giselle Musabimana

My name is Giselle Manishimwe Musabimana. Born to Rwandan parents, my story starts in a UNHCR tent in a refugee camp in Goma, Congo. At 6 months old, my family fled to seek refuge in northern Italy where I spent most of my life.

I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Languages, specialising in German and Russian from ‘Ca Foscari University of Venice. My passion for “African Studies” stems partly from a personal quest for identity, and on the other hand, from the acknowledgement of the lack of a proper and decolonized discourse on Africa in the educational and academic spaces I had attended thus far. Before delving into my EIMAS experience, I worked as a Communication Officer in a financial company supporting trade and investment projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, allowing me to interact with a variety of Pan-African institutional players and gain insight into the various idiosyncrasies within the continent.

During my EIMAS experience, I focused on curricula in Development Cooperation, Socio-political Processes and Cultures and Arts in Africa. I then conducted my final research project on “Transmission, Preservation and Meaning-making of Traditional Musical Heritage in the Rwandan Diaspora in Belgium", looking at the ways of preservation of musical heritage and their different interpretations of identity, homeland and belonging among Rwandan descendants across generations, also shedding light on the infrastructural and economic issues that often hinder the sustainability of these activities.

I currently live and work in Brussels as a Project and Communications Officer for IETM - International network for the contemporary performing arts, where I support communications, event management, and coordinate training programmes. It is also thanks to my experience in EIMAS, and specifically my fieldwork experience, that I allowed myself to follow a career path more aligned with my artistic and creative aspirations.

I’m very grateful for my EIMAS experience, and especially the connections and deep friendships I’ve forged that I keep holding on to despite our distance. It has been a pleasure to learn and grow with such a diverse group of people.

Contact: musabimanagiselle@gmail.com
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Linkedin: Giselle M. Musabimana
Instagram: @almostamodo