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Whenhen an African art collector, curator and art trader was gifted a set of Yoruba twin statuettes – ère ìbejì – in 2022 as a token for a fruitful business transaction, it marked the beginning of a fresh obsession. While he had previously encountered a few of ìbejì sculptures in his relative’s collection of traditional African artifacts, the gift resonated deeply with the collector, being a twin.

“I have always been aware of ìbejì but I must admit my dedicated investigation was definitely a recent development.”

“I have been gathering them ever since,” says the collector, who studied as a lawyer in London. “I acquire from international sales and also every time I locate someone in the country who has them and desires to part with them or dispose of them, I acquire them.”

These Cultural Importance of Ère Ìbejì

The ère ìbejì are a material representation of a distinctive sacred, cultural and artistic tradition among Yorùbá people, who possess one of the world’s highest twinning rates of twin births and are significantly more prone to bear twins than Western populations.

The average twin rate of the Yorùbá community of Igbo-Ora in Nigeria’s southwestern region, is an exceptionally high twin ratio, compared with a global average of about a much lower figure.

“In Yorùbá culture, twins occupy a position of deep spiritual and communal significance,” says a researcher who has researched ère ìbejì.

“This community are reputed to have one of the highest twinning rates in the globe, and this occurrence is viewed not merely as a biological event but as a indication of divine favor.

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

A Tradition of Honoring Twin Spirits

“If a twin child dies, sculpted representations [ère ìbejì] are crafted to house the soul of the deceased child, ensuring continued veneration and safeguarding the wellbeing of the surviving sibling and the wider kin.”

The figures, which are also carved for living twins, were taken care of like actual babies: washed, anointed, nursed, dressed (in the same garments as the twins, if alive), adorned with ornaments, sung and worshipped, and carried on female backsides.

“I'm drawn to artists who interact with the concept of twinhood represents: duality, absence, partnership, continuity.”

They were sculpted with artistic features – with bulgy eyes, their cheeks often marked, and endowed mature traits such as reproductive organs and bosoms. Most importantly, their heads are large and hugely styled to represent each sibling's essence, creation and fate, or orí.

A Resurgence Effort: The Ìbejì Project

This tradition, nevertheless, has been largely lost. The ìbejì sculptures are scattered in foreign institutions all over the globe, with the newest dating from the mid-1950s.

So, in February 2023, the collector initiated the Ìbejì Project to revitalise the living history of the custom.

“This initiative is an informative and advocacy platform that presents heritage artifacts to new audiences,” he explains. “Twinship is global, but the Yorùbá reaction – sculpting ère ìbejì as vessels for spirits – is unique and must be kept alive as a living conversation rather than static in museums abroad.”

In October 2024, he organized an ìbejì-focused show in partnership with a UK-based gallery.

The initiative involves gathering original ère ìbejì, exhibiting them and pairing them with selected modern artworks that extends the tradition by exploring the concepts of twinness. “I'm attracted to creators who seriously engage with the meaning of twinhood embodies: duality, loss, companionship, endurance,” he states.

He believes selecting modern art works – such as three-dimensional works, artistic setups, paintings or photos – that share artistic and thematic parallels with ère ìbejì resituates the ancient tradition in the present. “[This project] is a space where modern creators produce their personal interpretations, carrying the dialogue into the present,” he says.

“I'm very satisfied when individuals who previously dismissed traditional art start to acquire it due to the Ìbejì Project,” notes the collector.

Future Ambitions and Worldwide Influence

In the future, he aspires to release a publication “to render the ìbejì heritage available to scholars and the broader public”.

He states: “Though rooted in Yoruba tradition, the Ìbejì Project is for the world. Similarly to how we study different societies, others should research ours with equal seriousness.

“The aspiration is that they will no longer be seen as institutional curiosities, but as part of a vibrant, breathing traditional legacy.”