The International Festival of Vodun Arts and Cultures, also known as the Ouidah Festival, was first held in Ouidah, Benin in February 1993, sponsored by UNESCO and the government of Benin. It celebrated the transatlantic Vodun religion, and was attended by priest and priestesses from

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil and the United States, as well as by government officials and tourists from Europe and the Americas. The festival was sponsored by the newly elected president of Benin, Nicéphore Soglo, who wanted to rebuild the connection with the Americas and celebrate the restoration of freedom of religion with the return to democracy. Artists from Benin, Haiti, Brazil and Cuba were given commissions to make sculptures and paintings related to Vodun and its variants in Africa and the African diaspora. The festival was mainly commercial in nature, aiming to attract tourists and gain attention from the international art market. However,

Vodun art Vodun art is associated with the West African Vodun religion of Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana. The term is sometimes used more generally for art associated with related religions of West and Central Africa and of the African diaspora in Brazil, ...

can still be efficacious when produced for sale, and the Vodun spirits were propitiated at the start of the festival. The festival acknowledged the role of the Beninese in the slave trade, and was meant to serve a healing role and a welcoming home of the people of the African diaspora. It also tried counter the view of the Yoruba people and Yoruba religion as the main cultural origin of the diaspora, and affirm the central role of the

Fon people The Fon people, also called Fon nu, Agadja or Dahomey, are a Gbe ethnic group.Fon people
Encyclopædia Britan ...

and Vodun religion. Some of the art commissioned for the festival is displayed at sites in the city, including work by the Benin artists

Cyprien Tokoudagba Biography Cyprien Tokoudagba (1939 - 5 May 2012) was a sculptor from Abomey, Benin. He started to work as a restorer for the Abomey Museum in 1987, when he was hired to replicate the original bas-reliefs that told many of Dahomey's legends and ...

Calixte Dakpogan Calixte Dakpogan (born 1958) is a Beninese sculptor known for his installations as well as his masks made out of diverse and original found materials. A native of Pahou, he currently lives and works in Porto Novo. Much of his work is inspired b ...

Theodore Dakpogan Theodore Dakpogan is a Beninese Vodou artist. His work is influenced by 19th century Fon sculpture. He is noted for his scrap metal sculptures. The artist from Benin is a former blacksmith. Using discarded pieces of iron, he creates works of ar ...

Simonet Biokou Simonet Biokou is a Beninois Vodou artist. He is based in Porto Novo, Benin, where Vodou (or Voodoo) is an official religion practiced by 40% of the population. Biokou is noted for his work using scrap metals, including the rims of wheels and ...

Dominique Kouas Dominique "Kouas" Gnonnou (born 1952) is a contemporary Beninese artist and sculptor of Vodun art. Biography Dominique "Kouas" Gnonnou was born in 1952 in Benin. He became an assistant and learned about the trade and restoration of destroyed a ...

, and

Yves Apollinaire Pede Yves Apollinaire Pede (born 1959, in Abomey) is a Beninois Vodou artist. After being commissioned to reproduce reliefs for the Abomey Museum, he made sand paintings of well-known personalities such as Nelson Mandela. He gradually became oriented t ...

, and work of the African Diaspora artists

Edouard Duval-Carrié Edouard Duval-Carrié (born 1954) is a Haitian-born American contemporary painter and sculptor based in Miami, Florida. Life Edouard Duval-Carrié was born in Port-au-Prince. His family emigrated to Puerto Rico during the François Duvalier regi ...

(Haiti), José Claudio (Brazil) and

Manuel Mendive Manuel Mendive Hoyos (born 1944) is one of the leading Afro-Cuban artists to emerge from the revolutionary period, and is considered by many to be the most important Cuban artist living today. Biography Mendive was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1944 ...

(Cuba).

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* * {{refend Voodoo art Ouidah Festivals in Benin 1993 establishments in Benin Religious festivals in Benin Festivals established in 1993