Festac Mask

No singular artistic work represents the face of Nigeria’s rich and vibrant culture in its majestic splendor more than the Festac Mask.

The Mask has its deep roots in the ancient city of Benin in Edo State of Nigeria, and can be traced to the expansive conquest of Queen Idia, who during her reign, extended the frontier of what is known as Ancient Benin Empire to unbelievable heights and wide geographical reach. Queen Idia’s son Oba King of Benin, is said to have commissioned the mask in honor of his mother and her contribution to the success of his reign.


The work in all subtlety represents the esoteric beauty of the Queen complete with all the royal pomp and pageantry. The reign of the Oba, King of Benin was in the 16th Century and covered the arrival of the Portuguese’s in Nigeria. It is very interesting to see the depiction of the Portuguese displayed prominently on the crown like headdress of the queen. It could be imagined that the King was showcasing the fact that he was such a skilled and powerful ruler that he even had dealings with foreigners. This gives us an interesting insight as to what it my have been like when the first Portuguese explorers appeared in Benin city and maybe the importance that may have been bestowed on them. It’s quite poignant that all of this initial contact ended in the enslavement of the Nigerian people, first as slaves shipped out of their country, then as subjects of the empire.




It is quite ironic then that the Festac mask has been in the centre of a thought provoking discussions about Britain’s role in the looting of art and other treasurers from Africa. It been argued that the mask was stolen from Nigeria during Britain’s colonization of Nigeria and should therefore be returned back to the Nigerian people, and until it is returned Nigerians are being denied the right to view the arts of their ancestor; it has been further argued that the steadfast refusal by international museums such as the British museum has resulted in much of the evidence of the striping of African through the plundering of their wealth and arts being hidden away in dusty museum archives and in some cases ending up in private collections. This act in some sense denies Africans of their heritage; the art and artifacts, which would give them an insight into what it was like for Nigerians in the 16th century and previous to that.

I actually went to the British museum to see the Festac mask and was surprised as to how small it actually was. You could clearly see where it had been repaired but this didn’t distract from the elegance and beauty of the mask and the skill of the craftsmen. The mask was in the lower basement section of the museum, a section dedicated to African art and artifacts. It was interesting to see this artifacts that was so loved by the people of Nigeria that it was actually used as a symbol for the festival of Art and Culture in 1977 and was hailed as a symbol of Pan Africanism. Looking around at the displays, I wondered if the African art exhibition was a predatory statement of a conqueror showcasing the wealth of the country they had plundered and conquered or was it simply there as a way of educating people, an attempt to showcase the art and talent of African artists and bringing it to a wider audience. If this was indeed the case, could the museums and others like them not now simply return the plundered artifacts back to the countries they were stolen from and then enter into a loan agreement with theses countries so that they could still showcase some of the items? Or is this too naïve a view? I am sure that this is a discussion, which will continue for sometime.



Regardless of all my hypothesis, thoughts and opinion, the fact remains that the Festac mask was indeed a worthy tribute to the queen who was an art patron that encouraged creativity as much as their valiant pursuit of conquest. This beautiful masterpiece is a constant reminder of the richness of the past, the quest for excellence of the present and the vision of the future for Nigerian people.

Ere Ibeji (Yoruba Twins)

The Yoruba tribe of Nigeria are said to have one of the worlds largest proportions of multiple births. Of every 1000 births there is about 45-twin birth.
It is felt that it was as a result of this large proportion of twin births that the tradition of Ere Ibeji was founded. Ere Ibeji is a wooden carving which is said to represent the spirit of a twin/s that has died. The British explorer Richard Landers gave one of the first documented accounts of the custom of ere ibeji. In April 1830 He wrote in his journal “many women with little wooden figures of children on their heads passed us in the course of the morning”.


Ere means ‘scared image’, Ibi means ‘to be born’ and Eji means two. Upon the death of one of the twin or both twins the parent of the dead child would commission an Ere Ibeji. It was said that the Yoruba’s believed in immortality and reincarnation of a soul. Therefore they felt that when a twin died, the life of the living twin was in danger. To counteract this and create unity with the spirit a ibeji would be commissioned. It should be noted that when one twin died only one ibeji would be commissioned, it was only when both twins died that two ibeji’s would be commissioned.

To commission the carving of an Ere Ibeji the parents would have to go through a number of set procedures which included consulting as Ifa diviner known as babalawo which was essentially a mediator between the spirit world and the living world. Upon their consultation with the babalawo they would be directed to an appointed carver who would be commissioned to create the ere ibjei.

The father of the renowned carver Lamide Fakeye was a carver of ere ibeji. . Lamidi Fakeye writes of his personal experience as “a son of four generations of Yoruba traditional carvers in inurin’s compound in Ila-Orangun.” He recounts “ I remember how happy I was in those days when my father was commissioned to carve an ere ibeji, it always seemed like a festive period.” The reason for Lamide Fakeye’s joy was because once a carver had been commissioned to create and ere ibeji he would be given many items including food and drink, which would last him for the length of time it took him to create the ibeji.

Upon completion of the ibeji the mother and father would celebrate and invite friends and family to come and celebrate the arrival of the ibeji in their home. The mother would take care of the ibeji as should would the living child. She would regular bath it and feed it. In The British explore Richard Landers wrote “whenever the mothers stopped to take refreshments, a small part of the food was invariably presented to the lips of these inanimate memorials”

Twins were viewed as children who brought wealth and joy to the family, but it was not always this way. In 1897 Yoruba historian The Revered Samuel Johnson wrote, “the custom of killing twins prevailed all over the country in early times”.

An Ifa priest and scholer confirms this further in his analysis of stories regarding Ibeji – "when Eniyan delivered, she had twin babies. Aruwe shouted with great exclamation that a monster had been born…. she called an Alaaye and said, your affairs are no longer pleasant…you are advised to go and throw them away…. as a result before daybreak Alaaye went and buried the babies. He buried both of them."

One hypothesis of why the birth of twins was viewed with a dim light was that they were unnatural creatures. It was believed at one time that only animals had multiple births and this was due to their promiscuity – so for a woman to give birth to twins must mean that she had been promiscuous.

One account as to the killing of twins came via a historian called T.J.H Chappel through a study he conducted in 1968. This account stated that in "Oyo it was the practice to kill twins with the help of a knife at the neck for at that time people were distrustful of twins. They could not understand why a woman should given birth to two at the same time when she was neither animal nor goat".

It is not clear when the practice of killing twins came to an end, but due to the accounts given by various historians and explorers such as Richard Landers and Revered Samuel Johnson, that the practice came to an end sometime in the early or middle 1700 as the cult of the Ibeji started sometime between 1750 and 1851. As for the reason behind the Yoruba’s change of beliefs in the way twins were viewed, there are many different versions. One such version claims that King Ayaka the brother of Sango – god of thunder put an end to the negative views of twins after his wife gave birth to twins. This version is somewhat endorsed by the fact that Ibeji twins have been found in many Sango shines and in some cases are known as ‘sons of thunder’.

Other versions as to the changed viewed point of twins suggest that when parents were allowed to keep their twins alive, they became wealthy people and therefore people began to believe that twins brought wealth. People began to believe that twins were a result of normal sexual intercourse but their uniqueness meant that they were a gift from God. The acceptance of twins also brought about the inevitable rise of the ere Ibeji cult.

In modern times, ere Ibeji are appreciated for their earthly beauty, the thoughts and emotions they provoke as well as the history they represent.

All the photos of the ibejis above are from the book-Ibeji The Cult Of Yoruba Twins by George Chemeche

Traditional Modern Yoruba Art-The Fakeye family

Traditional Yoruba art comes in many forms, the modern sculptures carved by the fakeye family are one of the best known modern Yoruba carvings available on the market today.These carvings
are not to be confused with the mass produced sculptures commonly termed ''airport art''.A large complicated piece can take several weeks to complete , and a modest work up to three weeks,and the smallest items take about two days to carve .
Unlike most modern examples ,they are intended for the discerning collector of African art.

I will be need to dedicate a whole section to the fakeye family to do their work any justice, but in the meantime have a look at the few photos that I have uploaded of some of their recent carvings.

My Love For Traditional And Modern African Art

African art stirs my soul. I literally fall in love with pieces and feel that they should be seen and appreciated by everyone. This is kind of how our collection started. I would fall in love with a piece, buy it, fall in love with another piece buy it, and so it grew. I then began to think that there must be others out there who share my love for African art.

As much as the ascetic nature, look and feel of art causes particular pieces to appeal to me, the history of a piece can also ender it to me - which i am sure if the same for great number of people.
I am often amazed at the amount of traditional art which aims to help women with fertility issues, and the number which is created to deal with the right of passage as children become adults (which is in itself a huge transition). I find that fertility is a subject matter constantly broached in the majority of traditional African art - I’m not sure if it is as a result of the people being more reliant on the earth as a means of survival and a large family as a means of ensuring the longevity of the family due to short life expectancy.

My love of African art is not only directed to traditional art but also to contemporary sculptures, paintings and handicrafts. Through this blog, I hope to showcase some of the art work which inspires me and some which gives me the creeps like fetish art.

Currently my favourite non traditional sculpture is our sculpture entitled Princess. It an abstract sculpture carved from Benin ebony – as can be guessed from the name Benin ebony originates from Benin in Nigeria. It is a honey coloured two tone ebony wood which adds warmth and depth to the pieces that are carved from it.

I asked the artist where he got the concept for this princess sculpture from and he told me that with all of his work sometimes the idea or concept just comes to him and sometimes he dreams it - in my various interactions with artists,I have found that this is more often than not the case, artists such as Twin Seven Seven are said to dream their painting before they actually paint it.

The majority of the carvings carved by the artist who created the Princess sculpture are abstract in nature but they are all fantastic pieces. Every time I visit him at his studio in Lagos, I end up purchasing another piece. His attention to detail is amazing and very similar to that of Lamidi Fakeye and Akin Fakeye although their work is very different as all of their carvings are traditional and steeped in the culture and heritage of the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria.

My appreciation of the Princess sculpture is due to the appeal of its flowing design which draws you in. It's clean, smooth and graceful lines just sets it apart. I have placed it in place of pride in my living room with a spot light to softly illuminate and draw the eyes to it in appreciation. A stunning piece indeed!