On the occasion of International Museum Day on 21 May 2017, the FIFA World Football Museum invites you to a lecture by the football historian Guy Oliver on 'nation building and football in Rwanda'.
The theme of this year's International Museum Day is "Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums". In line with this, the FIFA World Football Museum will reflect on the topic of nation building following the genocide in Rwanda and focus on the role football played in the process.
The 1994 genocide in Rwanda saw nearly one million people killed in just 100 days. It left the nation shattered, but instead of the usual process of revenge and reciprocal violence, the new president Paul Kagame embarked on a programme of reconciliation and nation building.
As a television journalist in 1999, the historian travelled to Rwanda to film how football was playing its part in that process.
The Englishman will give a talk of his personal reflections from that visit and show a short film that he made. He will then give a brief introductory tour to the museum after his talk in the museum's event hall.
The talk, the film and the introductory tour will take place three times, starting at 12.00, 14.00 and 16.00 that day.
The talk will be held in English, whereas the tour will be held in English and German. The talk and the film show are for free.