Susanne Wenger was born on July 4, 1915 in Graz, Austria and died in Osogbo, Nigeria on January 12, 2009. SusanneWenger Osogbo Nigeria Art
Also, art preserves and enhances a people’s culture for it serves as a method of record keeping and makes culture mobile.
Moreover, art has always been a relevant component of Yoruba religion and culture. This is reflected in the various works of art identifiable in the history of the religion and works of art in the religion today. Such include paintings on walls, batik designing, pottery, sculptures, songs, dances, poetry, and decorations. Art was employed to achieve different pursuits in Yoruba religion traversing aesthetics and functional realities.
The shrines of the gods are for them a ceremonial home while the sculptures embody their myths. Embedded in these myths are characteristics and taboos of each god. Susanne Wenger sought to reflect these features as much as possible in her sculptures of and for the gods. She produced works of art that protects the grooves from intrusion and decay. Examples include sculptured walls and added strikingly eclectic structures, which are as tall as trees in the groove. For her, art cannot be disconnected from its religious functions because creativity is part of ritual life.Susanne Wenger was born on July 4, 1915 in Graz, Austria and died in Osogbo, Nigeria on January 12, 2009.
Sculptures by Wenger in Nigeria began as shrine repair efforts in Yoruba religion. Many of these sculptures and architectural works can be found in Osun grooves depicting various myths about different gods/goddesses in an aesthetic manner. Her sculptures within the Osun grooves deserve our special attention.
Some of the sculptures produced by Susanne Wenger and her assistants in the Osun grove at Osogbo include:Ontotoo means Onto, or totofun, which refers to a kind of frog and a respectful greeting to the deities. Before the Yoruba immigration, ontotoo was the goddess of the original inhabitants and represented her person in the trinity of Earth, Air and water. She is presently one of the tutelary internal guardian deities in the palaces of the Ooni and the Ataoja .
There is an inner room inside her matrix with the form of a snail shell, and a stair leads upward in a spiral. We find a pair of birds sitting on her bosom and hanging head down on her back. The sculpture has three pairs of slender outstretched arms, the first, to receive, the second, to give out sacred fecundates and the third is the Ogboni fist- over-fist-symbol gesture implying sacred togetherness.
It has been possible due to this ‘aliveness’ of Yoruba religion to hand over the religion to coming generations despite their exposure to western education and civilization. Hence today, among practitioners of Yoruba religion we find lawyers, doctors, academicians, architects and engineers to mention but a few.
In addition, the yearly Osun Osogbo Festival continue to attract thousands of visitors from many countries worldwide who subscribe to Yoruba Religious traditions as admirers, friends or adherents with different levels of commitments.
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