Ìdí Bàbá: Front View

Ìdí Bàbá is Ṣànpọ̀nná’s wilderness shrine, altar and ritual area in the northwest of Òṣogbo, on the road to Ibokun.
‘Ṣànpọ̀nná is an earth divinity connected with matter, suffering, fever and epidemics, especially smallpox. Ṣànpọ̀nná is both male and female. Earth, Fire and the colour Red are its Symbols’. (Susanne Wenger, artista e sacerdotessa” (artist and priestess), Paola Caboara Luzzatto, 2009, page 174)
Ìdí Bàbá was the first shrine Susanne Wenger rebuilt in Òṣogbo. ‘The site has special importance to the ‘olórìṣà of Òṣogbo because all festivals have to end there. No òrìṣà ceremony is complete until a last sacrifice has been given to Baba Agba. (…) Susanne Wenger followed the old ground plan and built the mud shrine (reinforced with cement) around the sacred ‘pèrègún tree (Dracaena Fragrans) that had survived the old shrine. Even so, some important characteristics of her work manifest themselves in this early work: the pillars of the portico have the feel of tree trunks. They do not stand on the ground; they seem to grow out of it. In the whole construction Susanne Wenger was anxious to fit the building into the landscape, to let it mingle easily with trees and shrubs. Surrounding the shrine, and placed discreetly in the bush, are Susanne Wenger’s own cement sculptures of the Yorùbá òrìṣà: Ṣàngó, Ọya, Ọbàtálá, Èṣù, the leopards of Alájere and so on.’ (The Return of the Gods, Ulli Beier, 1975, page 60)
Ojewale Amoo and Lani were the first artisans recruited by Susanne Wenger whilst rebuilding this shrine.