The Kigali Memorial Centre was created by a joint partnership of the Kigali City Council and the UK-based Aegis Trust. It contains a permanent exhibition of the Rwandan genocide and an exhibition of other genocides around the world. The Kigali Memorial Centre is built on a site where over 250,000 people are buried and was opened on the 10th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, in April 2004. This centre represents a permanent memorial to the victims of the genocide and serves as a place for people to grieve those they lost.

There are three permanent exhibitions at the centre, the largest of which documents the genocide that occurred in the country in 1994. There is also a children’s memorial and an exhibition on the history of genocidal violence around the world. There is also the Education Centre, Memorial Gardens and National Documentation Centre of the Genocide which contribute to a meaningful tribute to those who perished, and form a powerful educational tool for the next generation.

After constructing the shell of the building in the year 2000 by the Kigali City Council, Aegis was invited to turn the aspirations for the centre into a reality of the Memorial Centre.

The Aegis Trust started the creation of the three graphical exhibits by collecting data from across the world. The text for all three exhibitions was printed in three languages, designed in the UK at the Aegis head office by their design team, and shipped to Rwanda to be installed.

There was an unpredicted response from genocide survivors to the creation of the Centre. Over 1,500 survivors visited each day in the first week. Around 60,000 people from a variety of backgrounds visited in the first three months of the Centre’s opening. Over 7,000 of these visitors were from the International Community.