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Paper short abstract:

This paper critically examines the view of the linguist and art patron Ulli Beier on the involvement of the Austrian artist Susanne Wengers in the formation of modern aesthetic expressions within the context of the Yoruba worshippers in Oshogbo and the emergence of the New Sacred Art Movement.

Paper long abstract:

This paper seeks to critically examine the work of the Austrian artist Susanne Wenger and her role within the New Sacred Art Movement, which was founded in the early 1960s in the city of Oshogbo in Nigeria. It focusses on the writings of Ulli Beier, Wengers first husband with whom she came to Nigeria in 1950. Much has been written on the artist Wenger, who was initiated as a priestess of Obàtálá, the Yoruba God of creation, and who made significant contributions to the reconstruction of the Sacred Grove on Oshogbo. Nevertheless, throughout their lives, Beier - connected to the emergence of the early Oshogbo artists through workshops, which were organized by him in the first place - strongly supported Wenger through his publications, recognizing her as the "European counterpart to Senghor, because in her, as in the great poet, two cultures are a perfect blended synthesis". Sharing a similar comprehension of a concept of art, which needs to leave the museums and be integrated into everyday life, therefore following Dubuffet's idea of "Art brut", this paper questions the view of Beier as an art patron on Wengers involvement in the formation of modern aesthetic expressions within the context of the Yoruba worshippers in Oshogbo. One of the central questions arising is: Can Wenger be regarded as an art patron herself, when her impact on the Yoruba artists such as Adebisi Akanjii was "to give these people back their self-respect", as Beier claims it?