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Sanaa Gateja

SANAA GATEJA

They too Are the Earth Afriart Gallery 19 September–21 November 2026 Kampala
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Press Release

They Too Are the Earth brings Sanaa Gateja’s practice into renewed focus through an exploration of material, memory, and transformation. Across his renowned paper-bead tapestries on bark cloth, new works on banana fibre, and found root sculptures shaped by time and nature, Gateja returns to the materials and processes that have long defined his artistic language while opening them to new sculptural and spatial possibilities.

Borrowing its title from Niyi Osundare’s poem “They Too Are the Earth,” the exhibition asks what becomes possible when we look again at the things we have been taught to overlook. In Gateja’s hands, discarded paper, banana fibre, bark cloth, raffia, roots, and weathered wood become carriers of memory, history, beauty, and renewed value.

Built through acts of stitching, threading, joining, binding, cutting, rolling, and assembling, the exhibition invites viewers to encounter Gateja’s practice as a broad field of material thought: one rooted in Uganda, shaped by experimentation, and grounded in the belief that value already exists in the things around us.

Afriart Gallery and the Artist

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About the Artist

Sanaa Gateja is renowned for his intricate, large-scale tapestries incorporating natural and recycled materials, where thousands of hand-rolled paper beads are meticulously assembled into richly textured compositions, an approach that has earned him the moniker “The Bead King” in Uganda.

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Also Exhibiting at Afriart Gallery

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Sungi Mlengeya
SUNGI MLENGEYA Earth and Sky Afriart Gallery
Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris 5 September–24 October 2026
About the Gallery

Founded in 2002 and located in Kampala, Afriart Gallery (AAG) is one of the leading international contemporary art galleries representing artists who live and work on the African continent. Our mission is to connect African artists to the global art market and audience, creating a fair and supportive environment where creativity thrives, and powerful ideas find their voice.

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Address
110-112 Seventh Street
Industrial Area
Kampala
Uganda
Opening Hours
Monday – Saturday
10am – 6pm
(1)
Kampala 110-112 Seventh Street, Industrial Area
Afriart Gallery contemporary art gallery in Kampala Uganda
Afriart Gallery
110-112 Seventh Street, Industrial Area, Kampala, Uganda
+256701630640
http://www.afriartgallery.org

Opening hours
Monday – Saturday
10am – 6pm
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