New Sacred Artists: Kasali Akangbe-Ogun and Sangodare Ajala

Sangodare Ajala (b.1948) is the leader of the New Sacred Art Movement, one of Nigeria’s finest artists and a true representative of traditional Yoruba culture. In addition to his work as an artist, he is a practising traditional Yoruba Sango (God of Thunder) Priest and Herbalist. Sangodare lives in Osogbo, and leads the New Sacred Art Movement, which was founded by Susanne Wenger, his adoptive mother. As Site Manager of the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, Sangodare Ajala has dedicated himself to the restoration of the works of art in the Grove since 2008. Without his perseverance, leadership as artistic and spiritual guidance, there would be very little left of the works of art in the Osun Grove. Kasali Akangbe-Ogun (b. 1945) a master woodcarver and artist, comes from a long lineage of ritual carvers known as ‘Arelagbayi’. The family profession, passed down from father to son, was interrupted for two generations due to the shift from traditional practice to Christianity and Islam. It was revived in the Akangbe-Ogun family through Kasali’s work with Susanne Wenger and the New Sacred Art Movement.