Mr. and Mrs.

This work portrays a couple sitting on a verdant ground, possibly rolling paper beads like those that constitute the image itself. Responding to the need for professional training and jobs in the wake of the Ugandan Bush War (1980–1986), Gateja founded Kwetu Africa Art and Development Centre in Kampala, teaching widowed women in rural communities to make paper beads and generate income for their families. Gateja’s work is based on an ethics of environmentalism, reusing posters and magazines that would otherwise be thrown out. Drawing on a Ugandan custom, he makes the backing from ficus tree bark and then hand stitches each dyed bead into the bark paper.