Alájere: Dancing for Osun

This is a side-view of Alájere Dancing for Osun, one of the major sculptures on the Alájere Path of the “Dancing Men”, perched on the edge of a narrow path high above the Osun River. The Deity Alájere is dancing and paying homage to the River Goddess Osun with arms raised in praise to her powers of fertility.
Susanne Wenger created this work in the 1960s. As with all the Shrines and works of art in the Sacred Grove, the sculpture was created using cement reinforced with iron rods and netting. To save money at the time, Wenger used mud at the core of the sculpture and then covered it with cement. However, the mud core weakened over time and the sculpture nearly collapsed. The piece required major restoration in 2016 by New Sacred Art Movement artist, Adeyemi Oseni. This time only cement with metal reinforcement was used and the sculpture should last forever, with proper maintenance.