Sanaa Gateja told Obterver that he told observers from his base in Uganda: “I like Africans who deal with materials, aesthetics and values.” “I think there is a spiritual aspect of my work, and the spiritual aspect comes from our focus on materials, on life and community activities.” At the heart of Gateja’s artistic practice for more than four decades is community. The groundbreaking mixed media artist produces complex bead-filled tapestries that blend visualization, still life and abstraction into visual narratives, working with local artisans, mainly women of his homeland. They recycle papers including magazines, textbooks, brochures and newspapers, dye them through natural and synthetic processes, and then roll them into three-quarters of an inch beads. They are processed and hardened before Gateja secures them to a previously drawn bark cloth, usually with Raffia and banana fibers added.
“It’s important,” he talked about his connections and collaboration with local artisans in the community, trained and hired since the early 1990s. “For example, I profit from past knowledge, for example, the cultural and cultural aspects of making and the stories of carving.” He added that the craftsman’s approach is not necessarily conventional. “They are using various methods. That's the beauty of working with the community.”
Over the past eight years, about thirty works of art have been appropriately titled “sanaa gateja: Our Language” in the Miami Institute of Contemporary Art (Miami) is the Institute of Contemporary Art for American artists by far the largest museum work. Curated by Gean Moreno, director of the Miami Center for Arts + Research, ICA, the solo exhibition highlights the power of the community and the richness of traditional structure and bead making techniques.
The artwork in the program deals with topics related to community, environment, and global and social issues: The voice of peace (2023) is a tapestry in the exhibition, showing approximately 15 numbers with feathered arms on an orange, green and white background to speak to the needs of peace and environmental protection. VIP professor (2017) Pay tribute to people who are influential in other people's lives.
Moreno points out how Gateja’s dynamic composition works on multiple levels: “Between a full image and close engagement, it’s almost like two different experiences. And I think it’s a grip, especially when you stand in front of them and you start really looking at them.”
The artist's work has been exhibited in Carnegie International, the National Museum of Uganda, the Museum of Design and Art in New York, the Afriart Gallery in Uganda, Karma in Los Angeles and a solo performance at the 2024 Venice Biennale. It is also among the collections of the National Scottish Museum in Edinburgh, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, the Fondation H in Paris, the Field Museum in Chicago, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Born in 1950 at the age of Uganda’s independence, Gateja worked in the Ministry of Culture and Community Development in the late 1960s to the early 1970s, unintentionally laid the foundation for his practice. He left the job and moved to the Kenyan city of Mombasa, where he founded the Sanaa Gallery as a full-time artist. Gaia later studied design in Florence and jewelry production at Goldsmiths in University of London, where he was introduced to paper beads that were popular in England after World War II, due to scarce resources.
In 1990, he returned to his homeland and established the Kwetu African Art and Design Development Center in Kampala, the capital of the country. There, he began training women and young people with environmentally sustainable arts and craft skills.
Is there anything surprising about Gateja, 74, in his practice? “I've always found out that I have to talk about a lot of things because I'm really a recycler. I recycle what people waste – like on a construction site, there's a lot of wood. I want to explore the environment more.” “And I feel like I've been growing up. It's just my prayer that I'll always be strong enough to do all of these things because it's a wonderful exploration of materials, nature and form. I feel it's the responsibility of the artists, and I feel like they say what they want to educate and open people's eyes.”
“Sanaa Gateja: Our Language“The Miami Academy of Contemporary Art has been observing November 2, 2025.
More art interviews
