Cultural Translation in Steel: Interpreting the Bozkurt Through an African Lens

Art becomes most powerful when it transcends borders. In Ankara, Nigerian sculptor Abinoro Akporode Collins achieved precisely that.

Invited as one of ten international scrap artists for a prestigious Turkish symposium, Collins was immersed for one month in a cultural exchange centered on national symbolism. His assignment: interpret the Bozkurt the Grey Wolf, a deeply rooted figure in Turkic mythology representing guidance and sovereignty.

Rather than merely replicate the animal form, Collins translated its spirit.

Using over 3,000 stainless steel cutlery pieces, he sculpted a dynamic wolf mounted on a geometric mountain structure, symbolizing triumph and elevation. The interplay between sharp-edged utensils and fluid anatomical detailing created tension a hallmark of Collins’ visual language.

The project, organized by curator Beste Gürsu and backed by ASELSAN’s 50th anniversary celebrations, exemplified how industrial sponsorship can meaningfully intersect with cultural production.

For Collins, whose earlier works often explore African garments, marine ecosystems, and racial narratives, the Bozkurt became a study in cross-cultural empathy. He approached the symbol not as an outsider, but as a storyteller understanding mythology as a universal human language.

The result was a sculpture that felt both Turkish and global.

Through steel and symbolism, Collins demonstrated that cultural translation in art is not imitation it is interpretation.