Sanaa Gateja

Material: Bark cloth with handmade paper beads and acrylics

Location: Strathmore Business School

Sanaa Gateja was born in Kisoro, Uganda in 1950. He is a mixed-media artist and jewellery designer who is widely known for his signature incorporation of recycled man-made waste materials in his practice, particularly his pioneering fashioning of beads from discarded paper, which earned him the nickname ‘The Bead King’ in Uganda. He also works with barkcloth, paper, raffia, wood and banana fiber, using his materials to construct large experimental abstract pieces of social and environmental commentary that straddle installation, tapestry and sculpture and strike a balance between aesthetic and conceptual value.

Gateja studied interior design in Italy and jewellery design at Goldsmiths in London. He has exhibited extensively across Africa as well as internationally.

He is presently living in Kampala.