Adunni Olorisha: The Sacred Sculptor of Osogbo.
- Esther Oladimeji
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Under the trees of the Osun Sacred Grove, art became more than expression. It became prayer, and prayer became a way of keeping memory alive. When Hakeem Shitta photographed Susanne Wenger, he wasn’t just taking a picture. He was capturing devotion, the kind that doesn’t demand to be seen but quietly changes everything around it. Known to the Yoruba as Adunni Olorisha, Wenger came to Nigeria as an artist and left the world as something deeper — a guardian of a culture, a sculptor of faith.
“Art is not for decoration. It is a means of communication with the divine.”— Susanne Wenger
From Graz to Osogbo
Susanne Wenger was born in Graz, Austria in 1915. She studied at Vienna’s Academy of Fine Arts and co-founded the Vienna Art Club, painting surreal worlds shaped by post-war Europe. In 1950, she arrived in Nigeria with her husband, Ulli Beier. What began as a visit turned into a lifetime of belonging.
Becoming Adunni Olorisha
After recovering from a near-fatal illness, Wenger met Ajagemo, a priest of Obatala. That meeting opened a door into Yoruba spirituality. She was initiated into several cults and took the name Adunni Olorisha, meaning “the sweet one of the gods.” Her European art training met Yoruba cosmology, and together they birthed a new visual language, one rooted in spirit, ritual, and transformation.
The Osun-Osogbo Grove
In the 1960s, Wenger worked with artists like Adebisi Akanji to rebuild and protect the Osun Grove. Together they created sculptures that honored Yoruba deities and resisted urban encroachment. Their collective effort became known as New Sacred Art, a movement that turned the grove into a living museum of worship and creativity.
“One of the several sculptural works of Susan Wenger and her team at the sacred Osun Osogbo groves.” — Arts Illustrated Weekly, 1995
Because of their work, the grove was declared a national monument in 1965 and later a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
Legacy and Influence
Wenger’s art reached far beyond sculpture. She explored àdìrẹ ẹlẹ́kọ dyeing techniques, textiles, and architecture. She mentored artists such as Tunde Odunlade, guiding them to interpret Yoruba spirituality through their own eyes. Her home in Osogbo became part studio, part shrine, and when she passed, she was laid to rest in the grove she helped protect.
The Hakeem Shitta Archive (HSPACA)
The portrait of Wenger featured here was taken by Hakeem Shitta and is now part of the Hakeem Shitta Photo and Cultural Archive (HSPACA), a growing collection preserving Nigeria’s creative memory. Shitta’s Arts Illustrated Weekly documented Wenger’s 80th birthday celebration at the Goethe Institute, alongside tributes to playwright M. A. Zulu Sofola. The archive exists to keep these stories visible, accessible, and alive.
🔗 Explore the archive: www.hspaca.org
Reflection
Susanne Wenger didn’t just make art, she made meaning. She shaped spirit into form, carved myth into stone, and left behind a story that still breathes in the trees of Osogbo. Her life reminds us that art can be sacred, and that the sacred can live in art.
Sources
Arts Illustrated Weekly, Vol. 2 №11, Oct 1995 — Hakeem Shitta
Olongo Africa — How Susanne Wenger Turned the World Into a Classroom
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