🔵 Here’s a little BLUESDAY inspiration from our African arts collection, currently on view in Infinite Blue.
In Yorùbá society, twins (ibeji) are spiritually powerful individuals who may bring good or bad luck to their families depending on how they are treated. In the past, if a twin died, a figure (ere ibeji) was carved to contain its spirit. Cared for as if a living child, the figure is fed, bathed, and washed by its mother. The blue pigment symbolically cools the twin’s inner spirit. The Yorùbá aesthetic concept called ètùtù (translated as “cool”) links the color blue with a cool, calm demeanor. While Yoruba artists often used natural indigo, the vivid blue on these sculptures is a synthetic color made from powdered laundry bluing, a commercial bleach.
Yorùbá artist. Pair of Twin Figures (Ere Ibeji), late 19th or early 20th century. Ilorin, Kwara state or Egbe, Kogi state, Nigeria. Wood, pigment, glass, metal, cotton, cowrie shells. Gift of the Coltrera Collection, 2010.22.1a -b