Arch of the Flying Tortoise: The Restoration

This outstanding work of art is the original entrance way to the Sacred Groves. The Arch had completely collapsed, many long years ago. Earth instead of cement was used in the core of the structure instead of cement, and over time, water penetrated and destroyed the sculpture.
In 2014, the Arch was recreated from photographs and memory by New Sacred Art Movement artists Adebisi Akanji, assisted by his son, Adebisi Nurudeen. The Arch was sculpted using only cement reinforced with high quality iron rods and netting. Properly maintained, it will last many lifetimes.
Adebisi Akanji had worked on the original, an inspiration of Susanne Wenger. He was her closest collaborator. She had said of the process of their collaboration:
“I give Adebisi the story, the associations he needs. With my hands he expresses the forms. I never draw a plan. Adebisi then portrays my gestures with the walls and pillars he raises in red mud and cement. I let him work for some hours by himself. Often his work expresses exactly what I have in mind. Sometime I tell him we must start again. This never upsets him. He is always ready to listen again. He always comes back with new enthusiasm."
The meaning behind the flying tortoise motif is described by Wenger as follows: “In many cultures the tortoise represents matter—the opaque and heavy aspects of the divine. But nothing can keep its heaviness intact when entering the precincts of Osun’s influence.”