Renowned Nigerian master wood carver Kasali Akangbe Ogun has been buried following his death last week after a brief illness.
He came from a long line of wood carvers from the Yoruba people and took the tradition from his birthplace of Osogbo in the country's south-west to the global art space.
Akangbe Ogun was famous for his 'unique artistic style, characterised by lean, elongated faces and dynamic, flowing forms', noted Nigerian art patron Olufemi Akinsanya.
He was one of the leading lights of the New Sacred Art Movement, founded by the late Austrian-Nigerian artist and Yoruba priestess, Susanne Wenger, in the 1960s, to help protect the 75-hectare Osun Forest and its river.
The grove, on the outskirts of Osogbo city, was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2005 for its cultural significance in the cosmology of the Yoruba and as the largest protected high primary forest in the region. Works from the New Sacred Art Movement are currently on show in the landmark Nigerian Modernism exhibition at Tate Modern.
Akangbe Ogun reflected on his career in October 2020, stating, 'What pleases me the most is that my children have learned the wood carving art; they have inherited the legacy. The work will live on through my children.'
With a legacy marked by artistry and environmental advocacy, Akangbe Ogun's contributions to Yoruba culture and wood carving will be remembered by future generations.
He came from a long line of wood carvers from the Yoruba people and took the tradition from his birthplace of Osogbo in the country's south-west to the global art space.
Akangbe Ogun was famous for his 'unique artistic style, characterised by lean, elongated faces and dynamic, flowing forms', noted Nigerian art patron Olufemi Akinsanya.
He was one of the leading lights of the New Sacred Art Movement, founded by the late Austrian-Nigerian artist and Yoruba priestess, Susanne Wenger, in the 1960s, to help protect the 75-hectare Osun Forest and its river.
The grove, on the outskirts of Osogbo city, was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2005 for its cultural significance in the cosmology of the Yoruba and as the largest protected high primary forest in the region. Works from the New Sacred Art Movement are currently on show in the landmark Nigerian Modernism exhibition at Tate Modern.
Akangbe Ogun reflected on his career in October 2020, stating, 'What pleases me the most is that my children have learned the wood carving art; they have inherited the legacy. The work will live on through my children.'
With a legacy marked by artistry and environmental advocacy, Akangbe Ogun's contributions to Yoruba culture and wood carving will be remembered by future generations.
