Sarogua Spirit - Kpa-Azii (Tree Bark)

This limited edition Sarogua Spirit - Kpa Azii (Tree Bark) is one of only 3 bottles ever produced by artist Zina Saro-Wiwa. Sarogua Spirit - Kpa Azii (Tree Bark) is a recipe from the artist using the tree bark of the Kpa-Azii tree. The tree bark is lightly steeped into the 86 proof twice-distilled fermented raffia palm wine liquor distilled in the fertile and deeply spiritual Ogoniland region of the Niger Delta, producing an oaky liquor. Highly prized across Ogoniland for both practical and spiritual reasons, the tree is also used for making masks for the highly secretive and male-dominated world of Ogoni Masquerade. The label is handmade by the artist and features a well known work from the artists series "The Invisible Man," which features the artist herself wearing a neo-Ogoni mask she designed and commissioned from a master carver in Ogoniland. The mask and her wearing of the mask, is itself an intervention into the male dominated world of masquerade. Sarogua Spirit - Kpa Azii (Tree Bark) is a limited edition artwork (3 total editions) and comes in the form of both an NFT and a physical art bottle.

Sarogua Spirit

Created by British-Nigerian artist Zina Saro-Wiwa, Sarogua Spirit is a conceptual art intervention to challenge historical narratives about the Niger Delta - a region that has been known for turmoil and oil exploration despite it's history as one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. The craft distillery Sarogua, founded by Saro-Wiwa in Port Harcourt, produces incredibly small batches of 86 proof, twice-distilled palm wine spirit steeped with local botanicals and distilled in repurposed oil drums - a metaphor for the ways in which refining vs distilling has played out in the political and environmental landscape and affirming a commitment to soil not oil as the pathway forward for restitution. Named after a local Ogoni deity, a god of Rain and War, the name Sarogua is based on a poem entitled "The Poem to Sarogua" written by her father, Nigerian writer, television producer, and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, which is read before each ritual tasting. We are delighted to showcase four incredibly unique and rare spirits, each created by the artist herself, hand signed and numbered in limited edition bottles with custom labels featuring her artwork.As an homage to the historical use of gin in West Africa as a form of currency in an otherwise decentralized market, and the potent use of cryptocurrency across Nigeria as a mechanism for economic empowerment, we will be issuing each bottle of Sarogua Spirit with a corresponding NFT. Unlike a purely digital work of art, each NFT is linked to one of the limited edition bottles of Sarogua Spirit, offering collectors the chance to acquire both a digital and physical artwork.