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Couples or Doubles?: Representations of Twins in the Arts of Africa

Philip M. Peek Most of the papers collected here were originally presented at the 13th Triennial Symposium for African Art, Harvard University, Spring 2004. Several important treatments of the topic preceded our efforts. In 2001, Elisha P. Renne and Misty L. Bastian (2001) edited a special issue of Ethnology on “Reviewing Twinship in Africa”. Two exhibitions in New York City were devoted to twins and doubles: The Museum for African Art had a show in 2003 devoted to Yoruba ibeji twin images, organized by George Chemeche, and Alisa La Gamma curated an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2004 on “Echoing Images: Couples in African Sculpture,” which focused on male and female pairs in African arts. Both had important companion publications (Chemeche 2003, LaGamma 2004). Certainly representations of multiple human images have been recognized in African arts and cultures for a long time (e.g., Fraser 1974, Page 1987, Cole 1989) but we have had too few careful analyses of solid field research with which to interpret these representations. My own perspectives on this topic have two roots. One is my field research among the Isoko of the Niger Delta and the other is more recent comparative research on African divination systems. After briefly surveying a variety of visual evidence from these two threads, I will attempt to bring them together by focusing on the synthesis of the various elements which constitute the individual and the issue of cross-world communication (especially with regards to divination) among various African cultures. It may be that the frequent representation of couples, pairs, or doubles in African arts reflects comparable concerns with “twinness” for various culture-specific reasons. In other words, replication, not reproduction, might be the major concern. Throughout West Africa one often hears of cultural traditions about the distinct components of the individual. To pick one example, the Isoko person, male or female, is composed of several parts. I first learned of these by means of the carved representations of these elements found in personal shrines (Fig. 2). Essential to every individual is the oma, one’s spirit double, which remains in the other world. In order to live a proper (essentially predestined) life, one must “serve” one’s oma; i.e., by honoring one’s “self ” one is reminded of the correct way to live one’s life. In addition to an oma image most men and many women will have an ivri image carved for their personal shrine. This element of 1 Baule. Mblo mask representing twins (when danced, it will be accompanied by a pair of twins). H 28cm (11") Private collection