Adebisi Akanji in front of the Ogboni Clubhouse

Adebisi Akanji is one of the leading figures of the New Sacred Art Movement founded by Susanne Wenger in Osogbo in the sixties. Akanji had been trained as a young man to fashion cement decorations for the elaborate 'Brazilian' baroque building style. He participated in art workshops run by Susanne Wenger, Ulli Beier and Georgina Beier in the early 1960s and showed enormous interest and talent in this new direction. Wenger took Akanji under her wing, and he joined her in creating the monumental sculptures standing in the Osun Grove to this day. Working with Wenger over several decades allowed the former bricklayer to develop his incredible artistic talent to a very high level, while he also helped her refine her technique in working with cement. In addition to the works the Grove, Adebisi Akanji has applied his considerable talent to batiks, sensitive drawings in pen and ink and paintings. Akanji had also played an extremely important leadership role in the restoration of cement sculptures and monuments in the Sacred Grove from 2008 until 2018. He was in great demand for commissioned work throughout his career, and some of these included: The National Black Theatre in Harlem in New York City, The Centre for the former President, Obasanjo, in Abeokuta, Nike Art Gallery in Osogbo and elsewhere, as well as Mydrim Gallery and decoration on houses in Lagos. Adebisi Akanji has exhibited widely in Europe, the USA and in Brazil. He is a traditionalist and leader within the Ogboni Society.