Osogbo Grove

The Osun Grove in Osogbo is home to the river goddess Osun and the only remaining example of a once widespread phenomenon that used to characterize every Yoruba settlement.

©Adolphus Opara
©Adolphus Opara
©Adolphus Opara

Within the Grove are forty shrines and dozens of sculptures created in honour of Osun and other deities of the Yoruba pantheon. The forest and the sculptures therein are now a UNESCO world heritage site. Some of these are 20th-century works created by the New Sacred Art Movement artists under the direction of Susanne Wenger, an Austrian artist who became a priestess of Osun, to reinforce the links between people and the Yoruba pantheon. Some of the artists of the Sacred Art Movement, like Kasali Akangbe, Rabiu Abesu among others, are still alive and continue to create new works and restore the existing works in the grove.

©Adolphus Opara
©Adolphus Opara