Using art to explore the journey through civilization

By Stephen Ssenkaaba

SOME people call him the ‘bead King’.  Blame it on the way Sanaa Gateja turns discarded paper into beautiful beads.

Any blue blood that flows inside this man’s artistic veins is as much about his craftsmanship as the way he carries himself: A deep measured tone, flickering princely eyes, a patient demeanor and self-effacing calmness.

Early this month Gateja launched his latest art exhibition at Makerere University art gallery. The exhibition which goes on until next month is entitled “The African Journey”. It explores the place of African values and culture in the context of colonialism and Western hegemony.

The major feature of his exhibition is an installation entitled “AFRICAN JOURNEY” in which Gateja examines the place of Western religion and colonialism on the political, social, economic and cultural fabric of our society.

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“From the time foreign religions were brought in 1800s, Ugandans like all Africans have never been the same. missionaries and teachers came out to convert “heathens, barbarians, uncivilised, primitive and ignorant black savages”. It was their mission to impose on Africans their beliefs, ways of life, names and dress “for our own good” and we believed them hook line and sinker,” he says.

Part of his mission in this exhibition is to use art to debunk the old stereotypes that have branded Uganda and Africa in general as inferior.

“We were told we needed to know God for our salvation before we perish in hell.  We had to be trained and educated to become useful in the exploitation of our own Resources and Labour,” says Gateja.

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Using materials from nature enhanced with religious and cultural symbols, he challeges popular notions on Western hegemony on the politics, economics and socio-cultural norms of our society today.

A sinking boat acts as powerful metaphor for all that has gone wrong in a country where Western civilization first washed up the shores of Lake Victoria on rickety boats and where foreign influences continue to dominate, perhaps even sink indigenous expression. Today Gateja believes that slavery has taken on a different character altogether, but still exists.

“Ending the Human trade did not stop Slavery nor did it end the spilling of African blood whether by Foreigners or by Africans themselves. The Curse continues and lives on through the the lure of Western commodities, living style, Super sounding names and Fashion.

African youth are fattening fish in the Mediterranean, as they become Martyrs of this bizarre belief that to escape from home is God given freedom and go for it at whatever Cost. 

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Gateja continues to be his usual expressive self, taking advantage of recycled materials to produce beautiful images with African motifs. Huge backcloth tapestries showcasing various aspects of Ugandan culture; wall hangings with colourful bead patterns that wind into different artistic patterns of faces, landscapes and human forms.

The beads, gourds, raffia and basketry in his work lend an atmosphere of long lost traditional aspects of our culture. Backcloth remains an important medium in Sanaa’s creative process, gracing some of his most admirable art.

Gateja is heavily influenced and inspired by Africa’s wealth in resources, the strength and resilience Africans exhibit in their Culture and Innovations.

As viewers flock into Makerere art gallery to see his work, Gateja hopes that the African Journey Art Exhibition “will grow into a critical mirror of the Africans everywhere and a joy to see how far we have come on this hard travel.”