Rómulo Santa Rita

Rómulo Santa Rita (b. 1980, Lisbon) is a multidisciplinary visual artist of Portuguese, Angolan, and Mozambican heritage. With a background in audiovisual production and a self-taught artistic practice, Rómulo relocated to Luanda in 2011, where the city’s contrasts, tensions, and rhythms became a catalyst for his transformation into a socially engaged urban artist.

Blending visual art and activism, his work is rooted in the “Paper Street Art” technique—a unique practice that fuses acrylic, gouache, cardboard, stained books, and carefully selected clippings from newspapers and magazines. Each piece is a response to the political, social, and cultural landscape around him, crafted with intention and subversion.

For many years, Rómulo’s creations existed solely in private, quietly evolving. Today, however, he is increasingly present in public art movements and social critique, using the street as his canvas to challenge systems and awaken critical thought. His interventions often confront themes of power, identity, and collective memory, using recycled materials to expose the layers of history, media influence, and resistance embedded in everyday life.

By turning discarded matter into provocative urban compositions, Rómulo Santa Rita has become a distinctive voice in contemporary African street art, contributing to the growing dialogue around decolonial narratives and the visual reclaiming of public space.