Among the cultural and historical monuments of Nigeria Osus-Oso-bearing a special place. This is not a fortress and not a temple, but R. Sun relics stretched for 75 hectares on both sides, sacred for the nation of Yoruba. Osun-Oso-beoble is a symbol of ancient traditions, reflection of mythological ideas about the device of peace, gods and spirits.
Starting with the XIV Art. Here are a lot of people to pay tribute to the spirits of ancestors and strengthen your connection with forest deities. August holiday lasts 12 days, attracting many tourists. But neither the Festival of Osus-Osogebo, neither the grove could not be if not Susanna Wenger - an amazing woman born in Austria and became white priestess in Africa.
Artist from Graz
Absolutely nothing in the Grace - the picturesque Austrian city, which was born in 1915. Suzanna Wenger, did not resemble Africa, and she herself was least thought about the distant continent. From young years, Susanna's passion was painting. At first she studied in his hometown - at the school of applied arts and the Institute of Graphics, then moved to Vienna and entered the Academy of Arts.
After the Second World War, Suzanne worked a lot to be a light illustrator for the periodicals: in particular, she developed a layout of the Children's magazine "Unser Zeitung". Her authority among colleagues is growing, and in 1947 it becomes one of the founders of the Vienna Art Club. Wenger travels through Europe, lives in Italy and Switzerland.
The period of 1949-1950 is becoming a turning point in her life: in 1949 she meets in Paris with Language Ully Beyer, and next year he leaves with him to Nigeria.
Spiritual Transfiguration
In Nigeria, Susanna continued to engage in his favorite thing, creating covers for magazines "Bayer" and "Black Orpheus". However, in the late 1950s, the peaceful course of her life violated severe disease - tuberculosis. Wenger managed to recover, but the ailment aggravated in her interest in spiritual values and changed both her perception of life and creativity.
With the increasing interest of Susanna peered into primitive externally, but fulfilled the sacred meaning of the sculpture of Yoruba. Far from the canons of European art, they made a fascinating impression. But local residents told her that there were very few sculptures. After all, they were created under the influence of the ancient Nigerian cults, which gradually accounted for decay under pressure from urbanization and modernization.
A vivid evidence of the decline of traditional culture was the fate of sacred grove. Once there were a lot of them all over Nigeria, and by the 1950s there was only one on the shores of Oshan, and that mercilessly cut down. Susanna decided to save the last natural monument of the pagan culture of Yoruba and launched active activities.
Part of the World Heritage
Having moved to Losogbo, Suzanne initiated the creation of a social movement in protecting the grove. She managed to stop cutting down, but the grove needed recovery. Instead of destroyed wooden sculptures, Wenger creates new of more durable materials - concrete and iron. To accurately respond to the traditions of Yoruba, the artist is constantly consulting with priests, diving deeper into the traditional religion of the region. Interestingly, one of the postulates of this religion reads: the action gives force. In the case of Wenger, it happened: the more active in Susanna fought for the preservation of the sacred grove, the more she managed.
Gradually perfume, people and priests returned to the grove, and after some time, Susanna herself became her supreme priestess. So highly appreciated the Yoruba contribution to the revival of their culture. At the same time, Susanna was headed by the Art School "New Spiritual Art", in which young Nigerian sculptors studied. The government of the country acknowledged first of the Osuso-Oso-National Monument, and in 1992 - and all the grove.
Suzanna Wenger lived to a deep old age, using unlimited respect and as a priestess, and as a cultural and public figure. She left life aged 93 years, having time to see the highest recognition of his merits in 4 years to death: the inclusion of Osuso-Oso-Mouth into the UNESCO World Heritage List.
