Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
The Ooni of Ife’s wife, Queen Aderonke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi, yesterday unveiled over N14 billion L’Extinction or “No to Extinction” artwork to bring the blessing of Aje to thorn carving that has gone into extinction.
Also speaking at the event, the Ambassador For Environment, Ms. Olapeju Olayemi, in her goodwill message explained that the priceless art value stem not just from the extreme reality of thorn trees but also from the status of the princely hand woven attire in which the thorn is placed and the fascinating backstory of thorn carving and lego toys invention in 1932.
The unveiling event took place to commemorate Aje Festival, holding at Adire Oodua and Art Gallery, at Ooni’s Palace, in Ile-Ife.
Queen Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi, recalled that “NO TO EXTINCTION” artwork was produced by Olapeju Twins and artist Olulaja Akeredolu from the endangered thorn trees which has almost disappeared from our forest.
Ooni’s Queen who decried the disappeared thorn trees in the forest noted that disappearance was due to logging and deforestation activities of human beings.
According to her, it is the most important piece of thorn carving in history because it is the first artistic carving that accurately tells us to say “NO TO EXTINCTION”.
She opined that the art piece was created to re-invent the art of thorn carvings, that famed artist Chief Justus Akeredolu from Owo invented in the 1930s which is currently going into extinction.
“And to bring back the most prestigious aso-oke hand-woven cloths “gbowoyo” that the ancient people of Owo town invented, which means “expensive cloth that takes all the money.
“Thorn Carving, which is an excellent illustration of Africa culture, was invented in Nigeria in the 1930s, about the same time that Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter in Denmark, created lego wooden toys.
“Lego is now a multi-million dollar toy industry and has produced over 600 billion Lego toys, whereas our iconic miniature tree thorn carving has almost gone into extinction”, She stated.
She explained that the value of the artwork is inscribed on the frame as €93 Million Euros, which equates to Fourteen Billion, One Hundred and Sixty-Three Million Naira . This value was to redress and level thorn carving that originated from our fatherland Nigeria with its counterpart lego toys, which was invented in Denmark in 1932, she said.
Artist Olulaja Akeredolu thanked Queen Aderonke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi, for her tremendous support towards the promotion of indigenous Nigeria arts and culture.
He said that NO TO EXTINCTION or L’EXTINCTION artwork was to resuscitate the art of thorn carving, which his Father, the late artist Chief JD Akeredolu, invented in 1930s and had been forgotten.
Akeredolu said LEXTINCTION” or “NO TO EXTINCTION” was a remarkable return of thorn carving, and it is an art of cultural and environmental preservation.
“It does not just honour Yoruba arts legacies. It insists on their relevance and high valuation.
“L’Extinction artwork is priceless and is an environmental friendly arts because trees are not cut down to do thorn carving. Only the tree thorns are removed”, he stated.
