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Ẹbu Ìyá Mọòpó: Chameleon Gate and Walls

Adebisi Akanji, Susanne Wenger1980s

Adunni Olorisha Trust / Adunni Osun Foundation

Adunni Olorisha Trust / Adunni Osun Foundation
Osogbo, Nigeria

The towering Chameleon gate protects the entrance to Ẹbu Ìyá Mọòpó - the Sacred Potter Field. (ẹbu = potter field, ìyá = mother, òpó = pillar or column)
This is where Ìyá Mọòpó, the goddess of all women’s professions resides. This photo is taken shows the chameleon's tail arching out over the road that bisects the sacred groves.
The chameleon is celebrated in Yorùbá creation mythology as the first creature to step onto the earth with its head and tail holding up the new moon and sun. The gate is designed so visitors must pass under this primordial creature to arrive on the sacred ground on the other side, and to exit.
This gate had almost crumbled to the ground. The restoration by the New Sacred Art Movement took place in 2011 led by Sangodare Ajala. One of the earliest members of the Art Movement, Saka Aremu - now deceased - played an important role in this restoration, as did Adeyemi Oseni and Adebisi Nurudeen.

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  • Title: Ẹbu Ìyá Mọòpó: Chameleon Gate and Walls
  • Creator: Susanne Wenger, Adebisi Akanji
  • Date Created: 1980s
  • Photographer: Wolfgang Denk
  • Date of photography: 1980
Adunni Olorisha Trust / Adunni Osun Foundation

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