‘The Anthill’, Black Muse Art Festival 2025
Osaru Obaseki (Nigeria, ITP 2021) is a Nigerian multi-disciplinary artist and independent cultural entrepreneur. Osaru is a member of the British Art Network and has exhibited with numerous galleries along with AKKA Project, to mention a few. She is an alumnus of the EDO Global Art Foundation (EGAF) and has worked as an independent artist and culture entrepreneur since late 2022.
Osaru works across different mediums, while collaborating with galleries and art institutions. Using painting, sculpture, media and installation to delve into the realms of materiality, history, cultural identity, societal dynamics as well as the intricacies of colonial and post-colonial narratives.
‘THE ANTHILL’, a site responsive plinth with a sculptural bronze diptych titled ‘Coat of Many Lines’
From November 8th to November 12th, as part of the Black Muse Art Festival in Benin City by the renowned artist Victor Ehikhamenor; Osaru showed a sculptural diptych titled Coat of Many Lines, which was displayed on a plinth in the form of an anthill. The anthill form was not merely aesthetic, but deeply symbolic – it situates the sculptures within a continuum of ecological and ancestral labour. Anthills are architectural testaments to collaboration, persistence and transformation – qualities that mirror Osaru’s engagement with materiality and memory.
The inaugural Black Muse Art Festival’s theme was ‘Let the Forest Dance’ – and saw a 5-day celebration of African art, literature, culture and community. Organised by Angels and Muse, a nonprofit founded by Victor Ehikhamenor in 2018 – the festival introduced the Black Muse Art Sculpture Park as its centrepiece – a landmark cultural site designed to become a hub for public art, conversation, and gathering. The sculpture exhibition, titled ‘Today, Tomorrow, The Moon Will Still Be’ was curated by Kenyan independent curator Renee Mboya Akitelek, and asked the question – ‘what is sculpture?’ while exploring the materiality in contemporary practice.
ITP Fellow Osaru Obaseki (Nigeria, ITP 2021) standing in front of her artwork – and with her award, the Black Muse Patrons Art Prize 2025.
Osaru’s sculpture, ‘THE ANTHILL’, won the Black Muse Patrons Art Prize 2025. A huge congratulations from the ITP, Osaru! We look forward to seeing your work in 2026!
You can keep up to date with Osaru and her work at:
Website : Osaruobaseki.com
Instagram handle: @_osaruobaseki
BlackMuse page: @blackmuseartfestival