EXHIBITIONS
Simon was “struck by the artistic quality and beauty of the figures. The carving was so fantastic,” he says. Even more, the unique cultural significance of the ere ibeji intrigued him. In Yoruba families, these figures function as more than art objects: an ere ibeji contains a living spirit and is handled with care to pacify the soul of the deceased twin.
Professor Dick Simon stands with his collection in his Iowa City home. Photos by Steve Erickson
The UIMA’s major new fall exhibition, on view September 2 to October 17 in the Iowa Memorial Union’s Black Box Theater, presents the extraordinary 300-piece ere ibeji collection of University of Iowa Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Industrial Engineering J. Richard Simon. Known to friends and family as Dick, Simon taught at the UI for 42 years and started acquiring his beloved twin figures 25 years ago. He has promised his collection to the UIMA, known for its preeminent African art collection. The exhibition, curated by UI art history professor and Elizabeth M. Stanley Faculty Fellow of African Art Christopher Roy, will be supplemented by a symposium with guest lectures by world ere ibeji experts. The symposium will be held October 8 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Samuel L. Becker Communication Studies Building, room 101.
Each set of figures features unique differentiating characteristics.
6
uima. uiowa.e du
With a longtime interest in tribal art, Simon became enthralled by ere ibeji while taking a class on Yoruba art and culture taught by Professor Roy. Visiting the UIMA and seeing the ere ibeji figures in its Stanley Collection,
“After the death of a twin, its ere ibeji figure is offered the same loving care that Yoruba lavish on living infants and especially on surviving twins,” Roy said. “To honor the spirit of the dead twin, the ere ibeji is given food, clothing, and jewelry, and rubbed with red and blue dye. When the face of the small wooden figure becomes dirty with food it is cleaned with handfuls of fine sand, which softens the facial features over time.” The owners of the ere ibeji shown here loved and caressed them, providing an emotional aspect to the figures that continues to fascinate Simon, who purchased his first ere ibeji while on sabbatical in London. During his time in England, Simon also became connected with the world’s major collector of these figures, who owned around 800 of them at the time and provided Simon with key expertise during his early collecting years. Now with a passion for collecting, Simon continued to acquire ere ibeji as often as he could from the London and New York art markets. “I thought I’d like to have one or two, and then I discovered there were different styles from every village,” he says. “So then I thought I’d like one from all 60 villages. After that, I thought I’d like to have one more than the British Museum’s collection . . . it became an obsession.”
Jeff Martin, UIMA manager of exhibitions and collections, helps photograph figures with Professor Simon in his home.