Osaze Amadasun is actively transforming how the world engages with African cultural heritage. Trained as an architect with a degree from the University of Lagos, Osaze has many interests, and constantly expresses those interests through his art. His recent work for Digital Benin addresses one of history's greatest cultural tragedies; the 1897 British looting of thousands of Benin Kingdom artifacts, which left bronze plaques, ivory carvings, and ceremonial objects dispersed across museums worldwide, separated from the descendants of their creators back home in Nigeria.
Osaze's contribution to the revolutionary platform that digitally reunited 5,246 looted objects across 131 institutions in 20 countries is truly spectacular. Osaze worked alongside an international team, he helped develop the visual language and iconography for this comprehensive database; creating what amounts to a form of digital repatriation. The project went on to win the 2023 Apollo Awards for Digital Innovation. Beyond scholarly documentation, Osaze creates other cultural experiences through projects like Bini Playing Cards, which transforms Benin court art into contemporary gameplay, making an illustrative story of Benin court characters accessible worldwide.
When we asked Osaze what it was like working on Digital Benin, he had this to say “It was an interesting project to work on. I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such an important project, as well as to everyone who has worked (and continues to work) tirelessly to make it a reality.”
Osaze is part of a new wave of African artists who don't wait for museums or governments to act—they create their own solutions to reconnect people with their culture. His art captures the rich diversity of Nigerian life, and he's passionate about recording stories and history through his work. His pieces have been shown in galleries and featured in magazines both in Nigeria and around the world.
