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Whenhen a Nigerian art collector, curator and art trader received a pair of Yorùbá twin statuettes – ère ìbejì – in 2022 as a reward for a successful business transaction, it signaled the start of a fresh passion. Although he had seen before a handful of ìbejì carvings in his relative’s assemblage of African traditional art, the gift resonated deeply with him, being a twin.

“I have constantly been conscious of ìbejì but I must admit my dedicated research was definitely a 2022 moment.”

“I have been collecting them ever since,” says the collector, who studied as a legal professional in the UK. “I acquire from foreign auctions and also every time I find someone in the country who has them and wants to part with them or dispose of them, I take from them.”

The Cultural Significance of Ère Ìbejì

The ère ìbejì are a physical embodiment of a unique sacred, traditional and creative custom among Yorùbá communities, who have among the globe's top birth rates of twins and are significantly more likely to bear twins than Europeans.

The average birthrate of the Yoruba community of a Nigerian town in the nation's southwestern region, is 45 twins per 1,000 births, compared with a worldwide mean of about 12 per 1,000.

“Among the Yoruba people, twin children hold a status of profound sacred and communal importance,” says a scholar who has studied ère ìbejì.

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

“Twin siblings are regarded as carriers of prosperity, wealth and protection for their households and communities,” he says.

A Tradition of Honoring Twin Spirits

“When a twin passes away, carved wooden figures [ère ìbejì] are created to house the spirit of the deceased infant, guaranteeing ongoing reverence and safeguarding the welfare of the living twin and the wider family.”

The statuettes, which are additionally carved for living twins, were taken care of like actual babies: bathed, oiled, breastfed, dressed (in the identical garments as the twins, if alive), adorned with ornaments, sung and worshipped, and carried on women’s backs.

“I am attracted to artists who engage with what twinship signifies: duality, loss, companionship, permanence.”

They were sculpted with artistic characteristics – with bulgy eyes, their faces often marked, and given adult features such as reproductive organs and breasts. Crucially, their heads are large and immensely coiffed to symbolise each sibling's spirit, creation and destiny, or orí.

The Resurgence Initiative: This Ìbejì Project

This custom, however, has been largely lost. The ìbejì sculptures are scattered in foreign institutions all over the world, with the most recent originating in the 1950s era.

So, in early 2023, the collector initiated the Ibeji Initiative to reinvigorate the living history of the custom.

“This initiative is an informative and awareness program that presents traditional art to modern viewers,” he explains. “Twinship is global, but the Yoruba response – carving ère ìbejì as vessels for spirits – is unique and must be preserved as a living conversation rather than static in museums overseas.”

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

The initiative involves collecting authentic ère ìbejì, displaying them and juxtaposing them with selected contemporary art that continues the tradition by exploring the themes of duality. “I am attracted to artists who seriously engage with what twinship represents: duality, loss, companionship, continuity,” the collector says.

He believes selecting contemporary art works – such as three-dimensional works, installations, canvases or photos – that possess artistic and conceptual parallels with ère ìbejì resituates the age-old tradition in the current era. “[The Ìbejì Project] is a space where modern artists produce their personal interpretations, extending the conversation into the now,” he adds.

“I am very pleased when individuals who previously ignored heritage works begin to acquire it because of the initiative,” notes the collector.

Upcoming Goals and Worldwide Influence

In the future, he aspires to publish a book “to render the ìbejì heritage available to academics and the broader public”.

He states: “Although rooted in Yorùbá tradition, the Ìbejì Project is for the globe. Similarly to how we examine different societies, others should research our heritage with equal dedication.

“My hope is that they will no longer be viewed as museum curiosities, but as part of a living, dynamic cultural heritage.”