From welding in his father’s workshop to crafting monumental sculptures that celebrate Yoruba heritage, Yusuf Dongo is carving a powerful legacy out of scrap metal and cultural memory. Rooted in tradition yet unafraid to challenge convention, his work is as much about reclaiming history as it is about reimagining the future. In this interview, he opens up about his creative journey, his passion for recycling, and the story behind Ita Oba — the towering tribute to Ojude Oba that’s putting Ijebu culture on the global map.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Were you always headed towards a career as an artist? What mediums were you primarily using when you first started pursuing art?
I studied Fine and Applied Arts at Obafemi Awolowo University. When I got to 300 level, I had to specialise in one medium of art, as was my school’s requirement. My options were; painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles or graphics, and my top choices were painting and sculpture.
My dad was a craftsman — a well-known welder in Ogun state, so I had been exposed to his work from quite young and I had managed to get some experience welding. When I had to choose the aspect of art to specialize in, I considered my welding experience, which was limited to craftsmanship, not creative art. I could create things like gates, burglary proofing and the likes, but I had never tried to do anything artistic with the craft.
I chose sculpture, incorporated metalwork and started developing my skills until I got to the point where I could create my final year project using scrap metal. I created a lifesized structure depicting a person on a motorcycle which I titled, Suspended Bike Rider. I created the full bike, and then removed some parts of the structure so that the rider appeared suspended in the air and the viewer would have to use their imagination to fill in the gaps.
I wouldn’t say I had a specific medium when I was younger. During the early stages as an artist, you tend to do everything, so you don’t really know your strength. I was doing everything, but it was painting then, that really stood out to me. That, along with claywork.
Did your dad teach you how to weld himself?
My dad didn’t teach me, per se. He actually wasn’t aware that I was learning how to weld.
I would go into his workshop on weekends and pay attention to what his apprentices did. I didn’t put it directly into practice at first, but I had an idea of how to do it. When my dad wasn’t around, his apprentices would send me on errands around the workshop and this often involved a little welding work. At this time, I was around 16 years old.
Recycling and pollution are very niche mediums and areas of interest for an artist, it also does not come across as something you’d stumble into. Where did your interest in recycling as a medium of expression stem from?
There was this project I saw during my time in secondary school that I fell in love with. It was created by one of the artists I really looked up to. He created the entire thing with scrap metal and from the moment I saw it, I decided to start using scrap metal in my own work.
I also picked up the interest in recycling while I was in my dad’s workshop. We had “off cuts” — leftover materials, waste that individuals could buy to use for whatever they wanted. I started thinking about how I could use these items to make something creative.
Whenever I went to mechanic garages, I would pick up scraps as well. Brake pads, for instance, are very common and I incorporated a lot of these in my art. As time went on, my interest in collecting scrap metal just continued to grow.
Using recycled materials in my art gives me a level of flexibility and freedom that you just don’t get with sheet metal. When you use sheet metal to create an artwork, you are not very expressive — you have to follow certain rules and principles.
A lot of your art has very historical, Pan-African undertones. You cover colonialism (the Mother of Nations piece), folklore (God-Pocket piece), Yoruba history and Nigerian history. Talk to me about the relationship between your art and history.
Every artist has a statement; what they focus on. For me, I try to speak more about my heritage.
Coming to the UK, I felt compelled to assert myself as African, because I can tell you, respectfully, I really don’t like the Western culture. I tried to use my work to speak about African culture. I’ve noticed that Africans tend to adopt Western culture really quickly and shrink their own culture at the same time.
I had my art on display at the “God-Pocket” exhibition. The title of my art piece for the collaborative exhibition was Inscription Mirror. The theme of this exhibition was African spirituality, and my art piece was a metaphor for “Opon Ifá ” which is a divination tray which Ifá priests use for consultation, to gain insight on a person’s life path. This is a practice that has been in existence in Yorubaland for as long as we can remember, but when the colonizers came, they convinced Africans that our culture was evil and needed to be discarded. This artwork, and my art in general, is just a reminder to Africans that we don’t need to forget our own traditions.
The Awujale of Ijebu kingdom, Ọba Sikiru Adetọna who just passed away insisted that he wanted to have an Islamic burial, as opposed to the rituals and rites that Ijebu culture demand when a king dies, and people are actually supporting his choice. Meanwhile, in the UK, till today when a monarch dies, they follow the same rituals they have followed for decades.
My art is getting to the point where it’s being viewed by international audiences. I’m African, and my art needs to tell people the real story of where I belong.
Talk to me about your family. Did you grow up around people who were dedicated to upholding tradition?
My immediate family, the Dongo family, is more centred around Islam. My extended family however, the Shote Toubola family, is more dedicated to upholding Yoruba tradition and carrying out necessary rituals. I learned a lot about our history from them.
I also base all my artwork on the deep research I carry out before I start working on them.
Personally, I tend to go beyond what I know. I love to learn about things outside my family’s religion. I’m a practicing Muslim, and I don’t believe anybody should be forced to partake in every single local tradition, but we should strive to embrace them. You shouldn’t neglect your culture, It’s wrong.
We need to be tolerant of these traditions that have been around for a very long time.
These are the sentiments that are reflected in my art.
You attended De Montfort University in Leicester and are an alumnus of Birmingham City University’s STEAMHOUSE creative space. As an artist whose work is inescapably immersed in Nigerian culture, particularly Yoruba culture, what was the experience like, creating art in predominantly British spaces like these?
In the beginning, when I first started making art, I didn’t really have much context or a specific message I was channeling through my work. When I came to the UK, I started to give my art direction. Like I said earlier, my work speaks about the immediate environment in which I grew up, and when I left that environment, I became exposed to a different culture. I did not feel like I belonged in this culture.
The West is a sweet prison. You are given anything you may need or want, but you are constantly under surveillance. The life you should live is predetermined and has already been set out for you, without your input. You don’t really feel that you can leave, because the grass on the other side isn’t greener when it comes to fulfilling material needs. You’re sort of trapped. A lot of the Nigerians in the UK are depressed. They’re lonely. They enjoy the benefits the country has to offer, but most of them would prefer to go back home. I have a piece in progress which covers this, but it’s not finished yet. I’m going to title it Sweet Prison.
I feel that my art is well received by the British audience because I can say for a fact that several of them don’t really love being in their country either, just don’t have much say in the matter. Art is a means of expression, so I am able to say how I feel, which often, is the way they feel as well. I’ve never had a negative response to my art. I think the audience is fully able to digest what I’m talking about.
Your project for Ojude Oba this year was titled Ita Oba (part two) – because you did a wall sculpture bust in 2023 by the same name for the festival. Let’s talk about the first Ita Oba. You created this project before the festival first went viral in 2024. Was your own lineage and heritage what pushed you to create art in honor of the festival the first time?
My extended family is a royal family in Ijebu land (Ijebu Ode, Ogun state), and we have the privilege of attending the festival to pay homage to the king. I happen to be one of the great great grandchildren of Pa Ashani Shote, who is the Shote Toubola whose legacy our family celebrates till today.
I have been attending Ojude Oba since 2001 when I used to go with my grandma. I started riding for our family at the festival in 2015. In 2019, I started creating art professionally, and art is a way to convey feelings, so I try to do work that conveys how I feel about my culture. In 2019, I created a horse bust to celebrate the riders at the festival. It wasn’t anything much. In 2023, I decided to create something more interesting, so I created a sketch to talk about the festival in-depth.
In the 2023 bust, I honor the riders at the festival, the Baloguns and the Regberegbe. I incorporated the colors of the festival, using colored cardboard boxes. Families such as the Kuku family, the Shote Toubola family, the Alatise family and the Odunuga family who pay homage to the king on Ojude Oba day are represented in the piece as well. There are symbols on the work made out of beads. These 16 beads depict the 16 Agemo deities which the Ijebus celebrate annually. I also included a crown made out of metal sheets to depict the longest reigning monarch in Nigeria, Ọba Sikiru Adetọna. In the piece I included cowries to represent Ijebu’s oriki and to depict the community’s wealth.
The second Ita Oba which you created for this year’s Ojude Oba built on your previous work and resulted in a full sized sculpture of a horse with details which celebrate the history of the festival and the Baloguns (war lords) specifically. Talk to me about this piece.
This piece allowed me to express myself more than the previous Ita Oba allowed, because it was a much bigger piece. I started it in 2024, but it couldn’t be completed that year. I came back to Nigeria to complete the project this year. Ita Oba (part two) is a full expression of how I feel about Ojude Oba and the Ijebu people. On this project, I was able to honor the 9 Baloguns of Ijebuland, from the first one to the current Balagun — Balogun Alausa.
There are also some dignitaries that have contributed to the success of the Ojude Oba festival, and I included their portraits in this piece. In the piece, there is a depiction of my great great grandfather — Pa Ashani Shote, a warrior who fought for the Ijebu people in the Imagbon War, between the Ijebu kingdom and the British Empire in 1892 and survived. The piece also depicts the late Balogun Kuku who was the first Balogun of Ijebuland and a pioneer of the Ojude Oba festival. The festival was called Ita Oba at first, but eventually changed to Ojude Oba which means; the king’s full court.
The entire reason I created the Ita Oba (part two) was that Ojude Oba was gaining international recognition, but we didn’t have an icon or a monument to depict what we celebrate annually. I decided to create something big to promote our culture and heritage, and to act as a symbol of our festival.
The project was not commissioned, but Ita Oba was unveiled at the festival. How was the reception?
Inside the pavilion was extremely crowded, so the sculpture was on display outside. It was a lovely reception; I had coverage from CNN, Arise News and Punch. I received a lot of positive responses.
Where is the project now?
It’s still in Nigeria. It’s in my workspace.
Will the project remain in your possession for the foreseeable future?
Ijebu is still under development in a way. The people in charge of the festival, respectfully, I would say are elderly people and they need to bring more young people into the decision making involved in the festival. They don’t really see the value in the piece I created, because to them the work, although beautiful, doesn’t serve much purpose. I think as time goes on, they may see this value, but they don’t see it yet. The work is one of its kind, to my knowledge, In Ogun state we haven’t had a scrap metal sculpture of this stature ever. This is a novel concept to them, so they don’t really have a plan for it.
I don’t feel that this sculpture should be in the possession of anybody outside of Ijebu Ode. It’s a part of our culture and people need to be able to see it here, to learn our history. But in the absence of proper storage for the project, it has to remain in my possession.
How long did it take you to complete this project? From the gathering of metal parts to the actual construction to fishing touches?
From the planning which started late 2024, to the production which started in February this year, I was able to complete the project in almost four months. I had a lot of help, and there were some parts of the project, such as the busts, that I had created in advance.
I had a lot of unique challenges when creating the project, because it’s the biggest structure I’ve ever created (about 12 feet tall). With the help I received from a few of my colleagues, I was able to create the project in time for the festival. Aside from being a visual artist, I’m a project manager as well, so I’m able to work with time.
Do you have another special project planned for next year’s festival? Do you aim to outdo this one?
Well, it’s still at the brainstorming stage. I’m not sure yet, but I always come up with something, so yes. I believe something big is going to come.
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