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Whenhen an African art collector, curator and art trader received a set of Yoruba twin statuettes – ère ìbejì – in recent years as a reward for a successful art deal, it marked the start of a new passion. Although he had seen before a few of ìbejì carvings in his uncle’s collection of African traditional art, the present struck a chord with him, being a twin.

“I've always been aware of ìbejì but I must admit my passionate research was certainly a recent development.”

“I have been gathering them since then,” states he, who studied as a lawyer in the UK. “I buy back from international sales and additionally whenever I find anybody in the country who has them and desires to part with them or get rid of them, I take them.”

The Cultural Importance of Ère Ìbejì

The ère ìbejì are a material representation of a distinctive spiritual, cultural and artistic tradition among Yorùbá people, who possess one of the world’s highest birth rates of twins and are more than four times more likely to have them than Western populations.

The average twin rate of the Yoruba community of Igbo-Ora in the nation's Oyo state, is an exceptionally high twin ratio, versus a global average of about a much lower figure.

“In Yorùbá culture, twins hold a status of profound sacred and communal significance,” says a researcher who has studied ère ìbejì.

“The Yorùbá are reputed to have an elevated rate of twin births in the world, and this phenomenon is interpreted not merely as a natural occurrence but as a indication of divine favor.

“Twin siblings are seen as carriers of prosperity, prosperity and safeguarding for their households and communities,” he says.

The Custom of Venerating Twin Spirits

“When a twin passes away, carved wooden figures [ère ìbejì] are created to house the soul of the departed infant, ensuring continued reverence and safeguarding the welfare of the surviving twin and the broader kin.”

The statuettes, which are also carved for living twin pairs, were treated like actual babies: washed, oiled, breastfed, clothed (in the same garments as the siblings, if alive), adorned with beads, sung and worshipped, and transported on female backs.

“I am attracted to creators who engage with what twinship represents: dual nature, absence, companionship, continuity.”

They were sculpted with artistic features – with bulgy eyeballs, their faces often scarified, and given mature features such as genitalia and bosoms. Most importantly, their heads are big and hugely styled to represent each sibling's essence, origin and fate, or orí.

A Revival Initiative: The Ibeji Project

This custom, however, has been largely forgotten. The ìbejì sculptures are scattered in overseas museums around the world, with the most recent dating from the mid-1950s.

So, in early 2023, the collector initiated the Ìbejì Project to reinvigorate the lived history of the tradition.

“The Ìbejì Project is an educational and awareness program that introduces traditional art to modern viewers,” he says. “Twinhood is universal, but the Yoruba response – carving ère ìbejì as vessels for souls – is distinctive and should be kept alive as a ongoing dialogue rather than static in museums abroad.”

In late 2024, he organized an ìbejì-focused show in collaboration with a London art space.

The project involves gathering original ère ìbejì, displaying them and juxtaposing them with selected contemporary art that continues the heritage by exploring the themes of twinness. “I'm drawn to artists who deeply interact with what twinship represents: duality, absence, fellowship, continuity,” the collector says.

He thinks curating contemporary art works – such as three-dimensional works, installations, canvases or photography – that possess artistic and thematic similarities with ère ìbejì resituates the age-old tradition in the present. “[The Ìbejì Project] is a platform where contemporary creators produce their personal interpretations, extending the dialogue into the present,” he says.

“I'm most satisfied when people who previously dismissed traditional art start to acquire it because of the initiative,” says the founder.

Future Ambitions and Worldwide Impact

Next, he aspires to release a book “to render the ìbejì heritage available to academics and the wider public”.

He states: “Though based in Yoruba culture, the Ìbejì Project is for the globe. Just as we examine different societies, people should research ours with the same dedication.

“My hope is that they will no longer be seen as museum oddities, but as components of a vibrant, breathing traditional legacy.”