Sanaa Gateja

Sanaa Gateja is a mixed-media artist and jewelry designer renowned for his distinctive use of recycled man-made waste materials in his work. He is particularly recognized for his innovative creation of beads made from discarded paper.

Biography of Sanaa Gateja

Sanaa Gateja was born in 1950 in Kisoro, Uganda. The artist pursued interior design studies in Italy and completed a program in Jewellery Design at Goldsmiths in London.

Additionally, he studied at the Rhodec International College of Interior Design (Brighton, UK), the International University of Art and Design (Florence, Italy), Tomazo Hashimoto Jewellery Studio (Florence, Italy), and the Camden Art Centre (London, UK).

His recent solo exhibitions include "Rolled Secrets" at Karma in New York (2023) and "Radical Care" at Afriart Gallery in Kampala (2022).

The artist has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including "Neo-Custodians: Woven Narratives of Heritage, Cultural Memory, and Belonging" at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha (2023), "Africa Supernova" at Kunsthal KAdE in The Netherlands (2023), and "Eastern Voices: Contemporary Art from East Africa" at Addis Fine Art in London (2023), among others.

Sanaa Gateja has also showcased his works at international art fairs, including Miami Beach (2023), Art Paris (2023), Abu Dhabi Art (2022), ARCO Lisbon (2022), and Investec Cape Town Art Fair (2022).

Sanaa Gateja's Art Style

In addition to utilizing recycled man-made waste materials, Gateja incorporates bark cloth, paper, raffia, wood, and banana fiber into his artworks. He employs these materials to create medium to large experimental abstract pieces that encompass elements of installation, tapestry, and sculpture.

Striking a balance between aesthetic and conceptual value, Gateja enables the materials to express themselves within their own microcosms. He skillfully 'weaves' them into abstract narratives that comment on social and political realities in his home country, Uganda.

His unique approach involves engaging members of his community, whom he has been training and employing since the early 1990s. Gateja sees artists as catalysts for social, political, and environmental transformation, viewing art-making as an act of ecological and spiritual repair. By challenging traditional distinctions between figuration and abstraction, as well as between two-dimensional work and sculpture, the resulting swirling, mosaic-like pieces establish affective connections between people and their surroundings.