Benin's Voodoo Child Tradition

This series of photographs by Eric Lafforgue exemplifies some of the unique methods that the Fon people of Benin do to honor their dead children. The parents create effigies of twins who die in childhood and raise them as if alive. They feed them, bathe them, put them to bed and even send them to school. Twins have a special place in the voodoo religion of Africa and their spirits are thought to inhabit the wooden dolls. It is thought if they're mistreated they will put evil curses on the family, whereas if they're cared for they will bring the family happiness and prosperity.

"Three months after the birth of twins, if they are still living, the parents go to collect gifts from other members of their community," Lafforgue was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. "If one or both of the twins die, then the mother carries the statues around between her breasts and walks around with a tray on her head, receiving alms for the twins. All donate some money or food."

The importance of twins in Africa is certainly linked to the fact that the recorded twinning rate in the continent is higher than anywhere else in the world. Benin's Fon tribe has a very high rate of twin births, one in 20, but many die from childhood diseases and malaria.

Comments

Italy's True Movie Poster King

What you see here is the hand-crafted magic of Renato Casaro, the late Italian designer who practically defined an era of cinematic cool. His work wasn't just advertising; it was art. Casaro's journey into becoming one of the most recognizable poster artists wasn't by chance; it was a pure obsession. As a kid, he was fascinated by billboards, trying to mimic the styles of Norman Rockwell and Angelo Cesselon. Think of a teen so determined that he was drawing right onto the walls of a local cinema just to snag a few free tickets. Casaro created posters for a lot of Spaghetti Westerns. His big break came with A Fistful of Dollars in 1964. The movie starred Clint Eastwood and was directed by Sergio Leone. The poster didn’t just promote the film; it helped make it a global hit. Naturally, Leone came calling again, commissioning posters for My Name Is Nobody (1973) and the epic crime saga, Once Upon a Time in America (1984). A Casaro poster is easy to spot because of his uniqu...

The Adorable Sculptures of Yen Yen Lo

These images are from a series of wall sculptures created by Yen Yen Lo . Here you can see her intricately textured ceramic pieces, looking downright adorable. Yen Yen Lo's eye for the unique and whimsical is delightful. Apparently they are not intended for kids under 16. Fifteen-year-olds cannot be trusted with fragile stuff. Get them a Funko Pop instead.

The Art of Nicola Samori

Does Nicola Samori ever underwhelm? The Italian painter and sculptor caught my attention some two years ago, when I stumbled upon his work on Artsy . Samori creates dark, Baroque-inspired oil paintings by layering and fusing images on canvas, wood or other objects. His work stems from fear, and his process involves "skinning" his painted figures with a palette knife or thinner and painting over the surfaces multiple times to achieve deep-seated results. "Peeling off the faces make it possible for all the neglected parts of a representation to come to light and, as far as I am concerned, they all work even better without any kind of control," Samori explained in a 2012 interview . "I don't know what it is that gives a person their identity, it's such complex matter. I definitely don't think a portrait can eventually give it back because you can always perceive its author behind its eyes; well, maybe others' portraits (even their removal,...

finding cain

Search This Blog