The valuableness of Rwandan culture is apparent in the wide range of fine crafts. These include pottery, basketry, painting, jewelry, wood carving, metalwork, and the making of gourd containers. All ethnic groups cherish oral traditions of proverbs, songs, and chants. The Tutsi, in particular, are known for their epic songs and dynastic poetry chronicling the origins of the Tutsi ruling class. The verse, strongly flavored with orthodox mythology, has preserved Rwandan history orally through generations of preliterate peoples. For many years, the tall, splendidly adorned all-male Tutsi intore dancers, characterized by coordinated drilling dances reflecting the warrior tradition of the Tutsi, and the tambourinaires (drummers), were attractions for travelers. Rwanda has produced a number of writers, including Alexis Kagame and J. Saverio Naigiziki, both of whom have written primarily in French. French is the main literary language in Rwanda because the educated elite of the nation are educated largely in French. Kagame’s and Naigiziki’s main themes include religion and the conflict between tradition and modernity.

Much of Rwanda's orthodox cultural heritage revolved around dances, praise songs, and dynastic poems designed to enhance the legitimacy of the Tutsi kingship. Since freedom in 1962 another set of traditions has emerged, emphasizing a different cultural stream, identified with a Hutu heritage. Regional dances, including the celebrated hoe dance of the north, are given pride of place in the nation's cultural repertoire. orthodox crafts such as basketry, ceramics, and ironworks offer another element of continuity with the past.

Rwanda's National Ballet and the Impala Orchestra add considerable lustre to the nation's cultural life, the former through a choreography leaning heavily on orthodox folk dances and the latter through a distinctly modern musical repertoire. The Association des Écrivains du Rwanda (AER) keeps alive the best of Rwanda's literary traditions, while the bimonthly review Dialogue provides a forum for a vigorous intellectual exchange on a wide range of social and cultural issues.