Healing of Abiku Children

1973 artwork by Twins Seven-Seven

Healing of Abiku Children

Artist	Twins Seven-Seven
Year	1973 (1973)
Dimensions	130.5 cm × 131 cm (51.4 in × 52 in)
Location	Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis

Healing of Abiku Children is a piece created by the Nigerian artist Twins Seven-Seven in 1973, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It consists of a large wooden plaque intricately carved and dyed with pigment to depict an important Yoruba ceremony. In it, a mother consults with a priest to keep her abiku twins in this world, rather than dying and being reborn to her over and over.^[1]

Description

Twins Seven Seven was intimately familiar with the ritual he depicted, being the sole surviving child of seven sets of twins. The Yoruba are both blessed with an unusually high incidence of twins and cursed with high infant mortality, a fact which they explain with the concept of abiku, or children born to die shortly thereafter.^{[citation needed]} To end the cycle, mothers consult special divination priests, who use ceremonies and medicines to convince the children to remain in the community. The predominant figure in this work is such a mother, who holds one of her abiku twins while the other sleeps on her back. To the left, the priest framed by the door mixes the potions he will use on the children.^[2] Every inch of space is filled by people busily performing various tasks, their large eyes and facial scarification matching traditional Yoruba ideals of beauty. Twins Seven Seven's unique combination of modern and traditional styles (he was trained by German artists in Nigeria) is on display in this work, with its intricate, rhythmic designs from edge to edge and an almost sculptural quality due to the combination of carving and coloring the wood.^[3]

Acquisition

Healing of Abiku Children was commissioned in 1972 by Dr. Hanus Grosz of Indianapolis, who requested a work on "healing".^[2]

In 1993, Healing of Abiku Children was given to the IMA by Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Eiteljorg. It is currently displayed in the Eiteljorg Suite of African and Oceanic Art and has the acquisition number 1993.82.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Healing of Abiku Children". Indianapolis Museum of Art. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
^ ^a ^b Southgate, M. Therese (5 October 2005). "Healing of Abiku Children". The Journal of the American Medical Association. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
^ Lee, Ellen Wardwell; Robinson, Anne (2005). Indianapolis Museum of Art: Highlights of the Collection. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0936260778.

Twins was not trained by German artists in Oshogbo. He sometimes worked in the house of Ulli Beier and Susanne Wenger and was influenced by this experience. He then worked in association with Georgina Beier and her studio of artists in Oshogbo. There were no Germans involved. Doig Simmonds ex curator African Studies Ibadan 1950 - 1960

External links

Video of Twins Seven Seven explaining the work

Indianapolis Museum of Art (Newfields)

Significant
artworks at the
Indianapolis
Museum of Art

African art	Face mask Senufo female ancestor figure Magbo helmet mask for Oro society Palace plaque depicting warrior Guardian figure Healing of Abiku Children
American painting and sculpture to 1945	Afternoon Tea Cliff Rock - Appledore Dorothy Hotel Lobby Hurricane Jimson Weed Morning at Grand Manan Preparing for the Matinee Red Kimono on the Roof Reflections Sunlight The Boat Builders The Flight of Europa The Love Song The Rainbow Tidying Up U.S.A. Untitled (The Birth)
Asian art	Bowl with two violet spots Cong-shaped vase Covered jar with carp design Fine Wind, Clear Morning Ksitigarbha bodhisattva Ritual wine server Shigaraki ware storage jar Vase with carved peony scrolls Vase with nine peach design
Contemporary art	Acton Courre Merlan Egyptian Barnyard LOVE painting LOVE (sculpture) The Quintet of the Silent They Waz Nice White Folks While They Lasted (Sez One Gal to Another) Untitled Landfield Untitled Judd Untitled Irwin
Decorative arts	Angel of the Resurrection Coffee service High chest of drawers Portland Vase Side chair
European painting and sculpture to 1945	Aristotle Battle Between Carnival and Lent Breton Women at a Wall Broek in Waterland Charing Cross Bridge Crucifix Crucifixion Enclosed Field with Peasant Entry of Christ into Jerusalem Entry of Christ into Jerusalem House in Provence Landscape near Arles Ma Jolie Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Mary Magdalene Man and Woman Peasant with a Wheelbarrow Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well Roman Capriccio: The Pantheon and Other Monuments Saint Luke Self-Portrait Rembrandt Still Life with a Chinese Porcelain Jar Still Life with Profile of Laval The Banks of the Oise near Pontoise The Boy The Channel of Gravelines, Petit Fort Philippe The Country Dance The Crucifixion Cranach The Fifth Plague of Egypt The Flageolet Player on the Cliff The Flight into Egypt The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist The House of the Deaf Woman and the Belfry at Eragny The Negress The Seamstress The Triumphant Entry of Constantine into Rome The Two Sisters The Valkhof at Nijmegen Triptych of the Annunciation Vorhor, the Green Wave
Art of the Americas	Haida ceremonial dance rattle
Oceanic art	Helmet mask (Tatanua)
Prints, drawings, and photographs	Blasting St. Vincent's Rock, Clifton Boreas and Oreithyia Galinthias Outwits Eileithyia by Announcing the Birth of Heracles Mother (Mutter) Moulin Rouge: La Goulue The Holy Family with the Dragonfly Young Woman in Blue
Textile and fashion arts	Moroccan wall hanging Chinese Souls #2 Eli Lilly Family Quilt Evening dress Woman's apron Sumbanese woman's ceremonial skirt

Outdoor
artworks
by location

Museum grounds	Above and Below Five Brushstrokes La Hermana del Hombre Bóveda Memories of Prague Mother and Child Numbers 1-0 Snowplow Stumbling Man Sutphin Fountain Two Figures Two Lines Oblique Down, Variation III
Oldfields	Copy of Diana of Versailles Diana with Dog Female and Male Herm Fountain Four Seasons Landon-Era Birdbath Mother and Child (Gordine) Nymph and Fawn Sundial, Boy With Spider The Three Graces Pair of Urns
100 Acres	Bench Around the Lake Eden II Free Basket Funky Bones Indianapolis Island Park of the Laments Stratum Pier Team Building (Align)
Artworks on loan	East Gate/West Gate Mega-Gem Portrait of History Sewall Memorial Torches Spaces with Iron