Sanaa Artists 2017–2022
We have worked worked with a number of established and emerging Australian, Latin American and African artists across genres; street art, visual art, photography, installation art, hop hop, music - and we are always looking to include new art forms!
We work with leaders and those who have their own community projects and are creating positive community benefits, using art and creativity as the catalyst. We want to work change makers. We want to work with artists who call for unity. Those who have an open mind and who are willing to collaborate with a diverse range of other artists and stakeholders.
We are fortunate to have already worked with an incredible list of artists (below), who have made Sanaa what it is today.
Chris Best
Chris Best is a performer, poet and a writer. He finds inspiration in the nuances of personal relationships and enjoys writing about topics involved with life transitions and the complex emotions they sometimes trigger. Transitions like grief to joy, stagnation to growth, pain to peace. He’s been known to explore topics of love and solitude, from the enrichment they can bring to life - to the void they leave when they’re misused.
Katherine Gailer
Originally from Colombia and currently based in Australia, Katherine Gailer creates visual narratives exploring characters, our natural environment, magical realism, cultural identity and spaces of contemporary design. Her practice incorporates mural painting, oil painting, illustration, design and music.
Her creative expression underscores a main theme that looks at the complex relationship between fragility and strength, vulnerability and empowerment. It celebrates resilience and liberation and clamours for an urgent need to restore the invisible fabric that weaves together humans and nature. Through her work Gailer is constantly challenging social structures and reclaiming the space for diverse cultural expression and women at the forefront of social change.
Ashton Filmer
Ashton, based in Wudinna - South Australia, experienced a very serious head on car collision in 2013, which left him with huge amounts of broken bones in his legs and had him wheelchair bound for over 12 months. Some basic artistic skills were there before the accident however the major artistic streak came out due to a left side brain injury where Ashton’s creative part on his right side was realised.
Ashton now uses murals and visual arts to express his talent. In 2021, he participated in Colour Tumby Street Art Festival as well as Sanaa.
Moh Awudu
On walls, on the streets and on canvas, Mohammed Awudu, popularly known as Moh Awudu is one of Ghana’s most prolific artists. He sees himself as an ambassador for the community and street art is his means of shining a bright light, or quite literally, ‘a colorful splash of paint’ in his community. His versatility ranges from pencil drawing, traditional painting, mural art, graffiti, digital painting and fashion designing.
Jimmy Smith
James is a self-taught artist who is well known in the Adelaide community for his vibrant colour palette where his work stems from moments, conversation, thoughts and feelings in an expressive, spontaneous style and yet sometimes a simple bold piece of imagery that fits the empty space of the urban jungle. These images tend to be vibrant and playful at times as they share a small snippet of his life and tell the unique stories of himself where he was unable to reveal.
Justina Mulenga Mulenga
Mulenga is a versatile female Zambian artist. She has been practising her artistic skills on a professional level since 2009. A painter, sculptor, writer, performer and photographer, she holds an Art & Design Diploma from Evelyn Hone College of Commerce and Applied Arts and has participated in numerous art exhibitions within Zambia and across Africa. Her works are typically characterised by palette knife marks and the use of raw colours. “I capture the feeling of a moment and share it with my canvas and palate. At the end of the day it is just a moment [in the journey of life] that I bring out in my artworks.”
Bankslave
Bankslave is one of the founding fathers of graffiti in Kenya, and has been painting in Africa and parts of Europe since 2000. A talented artist and big character, Bankslave has participated in Sanaa on two occasions, and now has well and truly left his mark in Adelaide, with three stunning murals around town.
Vans the Omega
Born and based in Adelaide, Vans The Omega is a self-taught artist who has been creating art and letterform across the globe for over two decades.
Whilst drawing from his major artistic influences of ancient scripts, architecture, engineering and the ideas of movement and balance, his works pay homage to the natural world through his use of colour. Vans The Omega’s attention to detail and pursuit of perfection within both his work and life itself have pushed him into the spotlight and earned him worldwide recognition for his artistic endeavours in graffiti and large-scale mural works.
Zeinixx
Dieynaba Sidibe, also known by her artist name Zeinixx, is Senegal's first female graffiti artist as well an established slam poet. She is well entrenched in West Africa’s hip hop movement, a scene dominated by men. Whilst it is not easy to be Muslim, female and a hip hop artist in this space - Zeinixx is making headway.
Passionate about moving women forward, especially in Senegal and on the African continent, she said that women and girls are very important to society, and it is through her work, she tries to help females understand their value.
Sparrow
Sparrow is a Ugandan street artist, photographer, beat maker, hip hop teacher and dancer. He uses the art form of graffiti to promote change and unify voices through spreading knowledge, as well as creating beautiful spaces for the community.
Kampala’s visual arts culture is continuously evolving, and Sparrow has been central to this growth, founding Uganda’s first street art festival: AFRI-CANS. The festival brings together street artists from across East Africa as well as a number of visiting European artists, youth, DJ’s, MCs and break dancers for a day of creativity and peace using art as the guide.
DysPora
Gabriel ‘DyspOra’ Akon is an Adelaide based award-winning Hip-Hop recording Artist, Sonic Activist, Poet & founder of the Playback808 Kingdom.
A Sonic Activist, he has applied his talent for music and poetry to inspire young people to form positive social connections. Whether he’s appearing at local schools, festivals or on national television, he uses his own refugee journey to send a message of hope to those who follow.
He was recently a recipient of a 2018 Governor's Multicultural Award, for the ongoing work he does in the community.
Kaymist4
Another self-taught artist, Kaymist started with jewellery design creating beads, wooden pendants, bracelets and finger rings, using the income from jewellery to support himself and his artistic passion. From there, he branched into drawings, sculptures and paintings, with street and canvas art, now his focus.
He is a founding member of graffiti crew BSQ, a group of street artists hailing from the streets of Nairobi. BSQ have successfully carved up a name for themselves as one of the most energetic, inspiring and creative collective of artists, in East and Central Africa.
Scott Rathman
Scott is an Arrernte descendant who has lived the majority of his life in Adelaide. His curiosity to explore and understand his cultural background is the passion that drives him to continue to look at new ways to combine the traditions of his heritage with designs of the present day.
Scott enjoys creating artworks in public places to gently remind people that Aboriginal people are still here and that their culture is still as important today as it has always been. People are drawn to the unique designs that represent the past, present and future through contemporary creative design and expression.
Chela Cherwon
Nancy ‘Chela’ Chelagat Cherwon is one of Kenya’s few female street artists. Despite resistance from her family in the early days, she now earns a living from her skills and continues to trailblaze Nairobi’s arts scene with a mission. Her work is inspired by the spirit of Africanism and the people of African origin and nature. She mostly depicts women in her art pieces, as well a celebration of motherhood. For Chela, women have the power to bring forth life.
Viktart Mwangi
Viktart is fine artist from Nairobi, Kenya. Inspired by beauty and emotions, through art he achieves a sense of self-worth and purpose. As an artist, he aspires to get to a level where his work influences the way people define creativity. Viktart has been painting since he was young; he grew up watching his dad draw, which inspired him to then make a career out of art. Which today, Viktart is achieving just that.
Jake Holmes
Adelaide based artist Jake Holmes works across a variety of mediums, including screen printing, mural painting, illustration, audio and collage. He interrogates contemporary social and political issues, and documents place through his creative practice. He was also the Co-Founder of Tooth and Nail (now closed), a communal independently run art studio in Adelaide, which was home to 16 artists-in-residence.
Mwamba Chikwemba
A self-taught Zambian visual artist, Mwamba's creative process, focuses on women’s identity in a place where social norms prevail and female roles are strictly defined. She wants her portrait paintings to be seen as a collective image of African women who have power, courage and wisdom to follow their own goals.
Dave Court
Dave Court is an Adelaide based multi-disciplinary artist. He is a painter, art director, designer and photographer. After graduating with Visual Arts honours specialising in painting in 2013, he was one of the crew behind award winning immersive art project Mr IST and has been involved in a range of undertakings since. Major projects include running ethical clothing brand foolsandtrolls, retail store / art space Created Range and working as creative/art director of Yewth Magazine as well as ongoing freelance work and art practice.
Octopizzo
Octopizzo is an award winning, recording and performing artist, humanitarian and an entrepreneur. Born in the sprawling slums of Kibera, Nairobi (considered one of the largest slums in the world), he purposed to earnestly pursue his career in music.
He is the Founder of Octopizzo Foundation, empowering young people to realize their lifelong ambitions. He believes there is a wealth of artistic talent and potential residing in slums, refugee camps and other settlements across the country, where millions struggle to survive every day on the margins of society. It is through Octopizzo Foundation, he works with such individuals to free themselves from the cycle of poverty and desperation, through the uniting ingredients of Creativity, Art, Music and Sports.
Julia Townsend
Julia Townsend is a contemporary Australian painter working predominantly in abstraction. Her work features bright colour fields, hard-edge geometric abstraction and graphic line work, that reference contemporary architecture, the digital age, and the aesthetics of social systems. Julia is also focused on examining the dominant modes of production and consumption, and uses innovative painting techniques and creative processes to explore this.
Thufu B
Graffiti circles have fondly dubbed Thufu B as the “Lines man”. His work focuses mainly on African females, notably, portraits with African patterns on the background finishing with lines that create faces.
A Kenyan, he is part of the growing collective of East African street artists using graffiti artwork to foster peace, tolerance, and social cohesion. Historically, a symbol of rebellion or resistance, street art hasn’t always been welcome or appreciated. He is also one of the founding members of BSQ crew, a street art group based in Kenya’s Capital, Nairobi.
Lenin Maron
Lenin Marrón is a Chilean born, Adelaide-based, singer-songwriter guitarist. Frontman for Adelaide’s Afro Funk Reggae outfit Local Revolution, Lenin has toured Australia extensively performing at major Festivals and venues. He has shared the stage was national and international renowned artists and has landed supports for Maxi Priest (UK), Justin Timberlake’s World Tour support – Common Kings (US) and in 2017 was the local opening act for Santana & The Doobie Brothers.
Joanne Otieno
Joan Otieno is a Nairobi based artist who is inspired by her surroundings, as well as the waste materials on the streets of her city. Most of her artworks are a wide array of mixed media, where she incorporates waste materials into two dimensional artworks, three dimensional installations and run way fashion that are functional garments.
She founder of Werembo Wasanii Initiative, an organisation working with young women in the Kenyan community, enhancing their confidence and life skills, using art as the catalyst.
Smokillah
A graffiti artist based in Kenya, he specialises in street art. Growing up, he was very creative drawing inspiration from everything around him. For Smoki, art is something that is deeply embedded in his soul. As a Graffiti artist, he puts all his heart, fears and strength into his creativity.
Smoki's knowledge about street art is self-taught, with the main challenge he faces, is securing public space for his work. This however has never stopped him from practicing and upping my skills. He is also the Founder of Graffiti Girls Kenya.
Wise Two
Wise Two Started graffiti art in mid 2006, and is now one of the reputable pioneers of graffiti art in Kenya. He has played an integral part in bringing graffiti art to mainstream audiences in East Africa. Wise Two is also accredited with creating an awareness of the Kenyan graffiti art movement amongst the global graffiti community through his involvements in various international exhibitions and events.
His style is crafted through years of research based on stencil art and African/psychedelic patterns that create an intricate and detailed form of art on huge walls.
Lilly Nelson
Coming.
Arlon Hall
Arlon Hall is a contemporary Artist who graduated from the South Australian School of Art with honours in 2011.
Predominantly working in painting and drawing, Hall’s current practice investigates the relationship between line and colour, fusing these elements together, exploring the moments in between and in collision. Through this ongoing investigation of drawing and painting, Hall is able to communicate particular concepts with the entanglement of colour, line and symbols through his abstract painting. He is a member of the art collective 'The Bait Fridge', where his practice is further expanded through performance, dance and costume making.
Marjan Afrouzfar
Artist Marjan Afrouzfar hails from Iran and moved to Australia over ten years ago. Back in Iran, Marjan showcased her work in some of Tehran's leading art galleries. This mural was Marjan's first large outdoor mural. We hope to see more of these from Marjan who's work is influenced by what is around her.
Beau Graff
Artist, portrait painter and designer, Beau Graff is also one of Senegal and West Africa’s leading street artists. Developing his creativity from an early age, Beau Graff discovered the world of graffiti in 2008, which was influenced by his love for hip hop and culture. He is also a member of RBS Crew, who represent a Senegalese youth that is independent, open and committed to a more fair society. True to his word, he also runs graffiti workshops for street children.
Jasmine Crisp
Since graduating with a Bachelor of Visual Art Honours at Adelaide Central School of art (2017) Jasmine has been the recipient of the Carclew artist in residence program (2018), winner of the YouthScape Art Prize, a finalist in the SALA Advertiser awards, Emma Hack Art Prize and Kennedy Art Prize. Most recently she has completed three international artist residencies across Iceland and Finland (Mar-Aug 2019) exhibiting her work with artists from around the globe. Jasmine's practice is fascinated with the relationships between people, their belongings and home environments. Although primarily working in oil painting, her practice has expanded to include more non-traditional painting surfaces, installation and mural painting.
Olivia White
An emerging artist from the industrial town of Whyalla in regional South Australia, Olivia graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Visual Communication in 2012. Olivia’s work blends realism and distorted landscape created from sampling her environment; resulting in richly coloured oil paintings and dimensional painted paper cut works. The signature shapes recurring in this work are drawn from local topography and referred to as the fragments. While the figures in her work sit in spaces simultaneously the foreground and background creating empty or indefinable space.
Onyis Martin
Onyis Martin is a Kenyan painter and mixed media artist living and working in Nairobi. Gaining international attention, his works explore, portray and reflect current issues affecting not only the African continent but the world as a whole. Delving into global concerns such as human trafficking, migration, political and institutional corruption, repressive environments and displacement, he also explore issues of freedom, communication, rapidly evolving technological information and consumerism.
Swift9
A self-taught Kenyan visual artist specialising in graffiti and urban art, Swift has extensive experience experimenting on the streets of Nairobi. His creations seek to empower audiences, create awareness as well as advocate for social change. He gained notable recognition through his work on the Vulture Graffiti in downtown Nairobi, a piece that made international headlines for its message and style. His murals are generally a direct extension from his past, where he has come from and what he has learned, as well as a preview of his future.
Papa Shot It
Ugandan born, Papa’s photography explores the boundary between art and documentary. His art practice aims to peel off the layers of the viewers’ preconceptions that often camouflage his subjects, so that he can document them in their unabridged form.
Through committed research, he uncovers what lies underneath a layman’s perception of the issues surrounding his subjects. He then dialogues with the subjects to assimilate their character, their very essence. Finally by building an intimate relationship with his subjects, he is able to capture his subjects’ integrity through the lens, that inner beauty which is a fusion of their dignity and vulnerability.
Fatric Bewong
A Ghanian interdisciplinary Artist and Art Educator who uses craft, fashion, site specific performances, site specific installations and community to address environmental issues. Working with post-consumer plastic goods, textile scraps, thread, scissors, and needles, Fatric manipulates their intrinsic qualities to address pressing concerns of the modern world, including ecological destruction, political power, world economic order and cultural authenticity.
Elsy Wameyo
Elsy started singing in church at a young age, and was greatly influenced by the traditional sacred sounds.
A natural performer, she continued to pursue a performance career after being noticed by the founder of Playback808 DyspOra. Also based in Adelaide, Elsy was officially added to the Playback 808 team in November 2017, making her the first female soul artist of the group. She has performed at Scouted, the Root Down Festival, Groovin’ the Moo and Laneway Festival.
Seb Humphreys
Seb is an Adelaide based graffiti artist with 15 years of experience, specialising in large scale mural projects. Bringing vibrant life to urban environments, Seb's aerosol murals transform boring, ugly walls into spaces filled with fun, colour and vitality. Many of his graffiti inspired murals focus on different ways of representing nature and its complexities, showing us new ways of looking at our world with each work.