Oja Ontotoo: The Marketplace Before Restoration

This photo shows some of the forty-plus sculptures in the area known as the Marketplace in the Osun Osogbo Grove. These sculptural masterpieces were created in the 1970s by Saka Aremu, one of the earliest members of the New Sacred Art Movement. His most famous work is the Goddess Osun, which is located in front of the main Osun Shrine. The Marketplace sculptures came from the same artistic vision, and this photo was taken prior to their restoration in 2012.
The Marketplace, or 'Oja Ontotoo', is an 'amphitheatre' - a large flat rock surface populated by these larger than life cement sculptures, designed to be used as seats and resting places. The vision was to create an intimate space within the Groves where dance and drumming performances would be held, and both traditionalists and the community could mix. Depicted in these works are of drummers, hunters, an elephant rider, a large mother stretched out on the ground with her child, snakes and tortoises - all representing the spirits that come from the forest, the earth and the trees.
When the statues were originally created, Saka Aremu built an earth (laterite) core and then used sculpted cement, reinforced with metal rods, to create the sculptural details. As with almost all of the works of art in the Groves, earth was used to reduce the expense of cement. But the earth core disintegrated over time, leaving only the cement shell.
None of the sculptures in the marketplace could be restored: what was needed was complete reconstruction. In 2012, three artists commenced work on this project, namely Adebisi Akanji (leader), Adebisi Nurudeen (Akanji's son) and Adeyemi Oseni (originally an artisan in the New Sacred Art Movement-developed into an artist), assisted by artisans. Sadly, the original creator of Oja Ontotoo, 'Saka Aremu, had died the year before while working on another restoration project, and was not able to create his own masterpieces. He worked till the very end, leaving his imprint in the Grove.