african statues with pointed hats

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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.

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'Miracle' a sugary read The Divine Plan Liberation: bringing a fairtrade ethos to snacking First fairtrade branded snacks set for multiples Zimbabwe's 'naked twins' in the clink 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 the personality relates to one's steadfastness, determination, perhaps even stubbornness (Peek 1986, 2002). The third image, which I did not observe very frequently, is the obo, an hourglass-shaped carving that stands for the right hand, for one's personal effort and skills. The key point here is that all these elements come together to constitute the full, complete Isoko individual. And they are often merged visually in compound images such as this ivrigbbrna (Fig. 3).

Bellman (1975:43, 51) reports that the Kpelle speak of "two-brained people" such as diviners, who have one brain for this world and the other for the dream or spirit world. Kpelle twins are considered to have that ability--then doubled--and thereby they have the potential to exercise great power (ibid., p. 157). Another link of twins and the importance of dreams as a source of critical information is noted by LaGamma in Gabon. "Twin children, who are conceived as special spiritual beings, may also impart visions to members of the community through the medium of dreams" (2000:145)--clearly an example of twins and enhanced communication, as LaGamma elaborates a few pages later: "Even once born, twins continue to prefer dreams as a means of communication" (ibid., p. 151).

Zulu, also combine their metaphors. The Zulu consider sky and earth to be twins but also refer to them as husband and wife (Berglund 1989:34). It is this mix of references and metaphors in the ethnographic literature that we need to patiently review in order to clarify exactly what is being expressed. In fact, virtually all African peoples have concepts of multiple elements which constitute the self; the successful individual is one who manages this internal web of relationships effectively and succeeds in integrating the communal self and may be expressed as couples and/or twins.