Sanaa Gateja

His soft sculptures are composed of hundreds of paper beads that are stitched one by one onto bark cloth- a traditional fabric that is made from the bark of an East African ficus tree- composing lush tableaux that have a haptic quality.

The beads are made and tinted by hand from paper that the artist reclaims from newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, etc. . The information each bead carries, words and images, are literally crushed, although deformed letters emerge when one gets close enough to the work, evoking a mysterious, undecipherable language- or how the constant information we are submitted to finally creates an indifferent ‘white noise’.

Yet the main narrative is constructed by the artist who masterfully manipulates the placement and juxtaposition of the beads, applying painting upon them in parts. The abstract or more recognisable motifs he creates are animated in an orchestrated movement, alternating solidity and fluidity, vibration and calm to serve the themes that interest him, would they be colonial taxonomy, vernacular architecture, or traditional and contemporary philosophies of nature.

The artist works systematically with women of the communities around his Kampala and countryside studios, which is an important part of his process which he wants to be sustainable in social and environmental terms. His concrete engagement with local craftsmanship, waste transformation and community cohesion makes his work politically engaged as well as an attempt to representative of traditional East African values.

Gateja left Uganda’s civil war and lived afterwards in Kenya, then leaving again to Italy, and the UK -where he studied Fine Art and Design. He came back to Kampala only in the late 1990s. His work is permanently on display at the National Museums in Uganda and Kenya. It was exhibited among other places in the Cairo International Biennial; Museum of Art and Design, New York; Biennale Gwangju, Korea; Mbari Institute, Washington DC; African Centre, London.

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, NYC 2022

Sanaa Gateja, King Houndekpinkou

19 - 25 May 2022

50 Golborne Gallery is pleased to return this year to 1-54 New York and present new works by Ugandan artist Sanaa Gateja, and Beninese-French artist, King Houndekpinkou.

It Resonates

Nine Artists From across Africa examined through the lens of 'Resonance'

14 Sep - 4 Oct 2025

'It Resonates" assembles the works of nine artists of African origin around the notion of resonance a concept developed by German philosopher Hartmut Rosa, in the context of climate change and environmental degradation.

The exhibition includes the Ugandan artists: Sanaa Gateja, who presents lush tapestries celebrating East African nature and culture; Joseph Ntensibe, represented by a rare landscape painting; and Collin Sekajugo. with brand new mixed- media works.
Also included are a series of Inks on Paper, and two installations by Moroccan artist Safaa Erruas. Temandrota, based in Madagascar, contributes his distinctive semi-abstractions made with earth sap, sisal, combined with acrylic on hand-made paper.
The presentation is completed by paintings from Nairobi -based artists: Chemu Ng'ok and Martin Jakaila- the latter show shown for the first time by an international gallery, alongside a sound piece by fellow Nairobian Joseph Kamaru.

King Houndekpinkou and Sanaa Gateja at Salon 50 GOLBORNE/ St Sulpice

26 Feb - 2 Mar 2021

The exhibition is set in a Parisian apartment located on the Place St Sulpice in the St Germain des Pres area. It sets a dialogue between Gateja's tactile tableaux and Houndekpinkou's ceramics in a domestic decor conceived by architect Andrea Marcante.