Today just like every other day was boring in the morning for me and I just felt the urge to do something unusual,normally I’m always in my room or just in school and today I woke up and got to class it was really annoying when the girl I was expecting didn’t show up so I walked down to multipurpose alone,I was in class and I was discussing something with a friend of mine,I called my mom about my hair and her response wasn’t what I expected so with the annoyance from the girl and that of my hair that was to be postponed,I totally felt down,there were some other things that were on my mind before today,I thought about everything and rested my head on the desk and kinda broke down,my friend was disturbing me but I didn’t respond so he decided to take me to susan wenge,I’ve always wanted to go outside school area and so in order to make me happy he decided to take me there.
This susan wenga is a woman,a white woman who lived in Nigeria from the seventies,she stayed in Nigeria with her husband and later divorced and she died in 2008.There’s a house she built and living when she was alive,she was a woman who embraced and loved the African culture,beliefs and tradition.Susan made a lot of sculptures and Nigerian art designs while she was alive,the house she lived in is located in Oshogbo,Osun state.There are lots of African sculptures and detailed artworks in her house,she molded with her hand and she was really curious about the Nigerian culture,while I walked around the house I saw different things with details,she didn’t just mold but also made detailed research about our history and all,she also did and molded some sculptures in isale osun she’s the one that made the Osun festival to be really celebrated.
The house looks kind of haunted and scary but many see it as a museum,I was engrossed in the scenery before me that I didn’t realize when my friend went out,I went deeper and saw some ancient things looking like nok art,Benin art and all, I was really surprised because how would a white woman know these details and even do this much for the Nigerian art,to be honest my mood was really bad before going to the place but with what I saw and heard from the people who guided us I became really interested in susan wenge’s history and life experience,the flowers in the front part of the house grows on the house up to the third floor and are still looking beautiful,the house is a three story building that is embellished with ancient designs and encryption even the doors when I took a closer look I saw some encrypted words and this really made me do researches on ancient arts and beliefs because I never think much of Nigerian art to the point of telling a story with it,one thing that caught my attention is the fact that each sculpture is detailed,there’s a history behind everything,the ones from the outside is a narration of slavery and dehumanization,it really made me take a closer look,there are also sculptures of masquerades and knights.
I really enjoyed my outing and my mood was changed and I took lots of pictures of myself and the building and the sculptures.