Kasali Akangbe Ogun - a Family Tradition is Revived

Kasali Akangbe was born into a woodcarving family that transmitted the craft from generation to generation.
However, by the time that Kasali was growing up, the tradition had been lost for two generations as Islam and Christianity had suppressed the demand for ritual carvers.

His father was a cocoa farmer, hunter and prominent Ògún (the deity of iron) worshiper.
The early death of his father put an abrupt end to Kasali's primary education and he moved to a neighbouring village where he worked as a farm labourer.
He then returned to Osogbo and qualified as a carpenter in 1976.

It was originally as a carpenter that he joined Susanne Wenger, erecting scaffolding and iron reinforcements for her large sculptures in the Ọ̀ṣun Òṣogbo Groves.

Susanne Wenger soon recognized and encouraged Kasali's talents as a wood carver and sculptor.
Along with Rabiu Abesu and Buraimoh Gbadamosi, his distinctive carved pillars and his large wooden sculptures are a dominant feature of New Sacred Art in the Ọ̀ṣun Òṣogbo Groves.

Kasali Akangbe-Ogun is responsible for erecting magnificent roofs, which protect many of the major shrines. Some are shaped like birds with parted wings.

Lost for two generations, the family tradition of
sacred carving was revived by Kasali Akangbe-Ogun. 

Kasali soon developed his own style of figures with lean bodies, elongated limbs and faces with distinctive eyes.

Kasali has an unerring eye for how he can use the shape of a piece of wood and transform it into an iconic work of art.

He has participated in exhibitions since the 1980's in London, Hamburg, Bayreuth, Lagos, New York, Edinburgh, Germany and several times in Austria.
This was in 1995 in Krems, Austria.
Together with other artists, Kasali also created New Sacred Art for the National Black Theatre, Harlem, USA.

Kasali Akange-Ogun has many sons, some of whom are now carrying on the family tradition.