Discarded paper becomes a bead, the bead becomes a tapestry: art as an act of ecological and spiritual repair.
Sanaa Gateja (b. 1950, Kisoro, Uganda) is a mixed-media artist and jewellery designer, known in Uganda as "The Bead King" for his pioneering transformation of discarded paper into beads, which he sews onto bark cloth in tapestry-like assemblages suspended between textile, sculpture and installation. Working with bark cloth, raffia, wood and banana fibre, he weaves abstract narratives on the social, political and ecological realities of his country, involving members of his community, whom he has trained and employed since the early 1990s. He represented Uganda at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024) and took part in the 58th Carnegie International (2022). Recent solo exhibitions include the ICA Miami (2025), Karma, New York and Los Angeles, and the Currier Museum of Art. He lives and works in Kampala.
