A popular classic play “Dance of the Forests” by Noble Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has inspired the first edition of the Black Muse Art Festival in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

The Black Muse Art Festival with the theme: “Let the Forest Dance”, was reimagining art as a transformative force for conservation, community, and cultural continuity.

The festival also saw the former unveiling ” of the Azagba Pavilion and Sculpture Park which showcases the cultural heritage of Benin.

Curators, lovers of art works outside Nigeria thronged the unveiling of the festival to celebrate works of arts at the park.

Founder of Angel Muse, an internationally acclaimed artist, Victor Ehikhamenor, explained that the festival’s theme reflects an urgent call for environmental consciousness.

“In ancient Benin, sacred groves were sanctuaries of both spirit and biodiversity. Through this festival, we’re asking: how can art help us listen to our environment again and protect what is sacred?”

Ehikhamenor added that the Black Muse Art is the way of bringing that energy into public space into the forest, city and the community.