Fantasy coffin
Encyclopedia
The fantasy or figurative coffins from Ghana
, in Europe also called custom, fantastic or proverbial coffins (abebuu adekai), are made by some talented carpenters in the Greater Accra Region in Ghana. These colourful objects which are not only coffins but also real pieces of art were shown for the first time to a wider western public in the exhibition Magiciens de la Terre at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris 1989. The seven coffins which were exposed in Paris were done by Kane Kwei
(1922–1992) and by his former assistant Paa Joe (*1947). Since then these art coffins of Kane Kwei, Paa Joe and other artists have been displayed in many international art museums and galleries around the world.
use such elaborate coffins for their funerals is explained by their religious beliefs regarding the afterlife. They believe that death is not the end and that life continues in the next world in the same way it did on earth. Ancestors are also thought to be much more powerful than the living and able to influence their relatives who are still alive. This is why families do everything they can to ensure that a dead person is sympathetic towards them as early as possible. The social status of the deceased depends primarily on the importance, success and usage of an exclusive coffin during a burial.
Fantasy coffins are only seen on the day of the burial when they are buried with the deceased. They often symbolise the dead people’s professions. Certain shapes, such as a sword or chair coffin, represent regal or priestly insignia with a magical and religious function. Only people with the appropriate status are allowed to be buried in these types of coffins. Various animals, such as lions, cockerels and crabs can represent clan totems. Similarly, only the heads of the families concerned are permitted to be buried in coffins such as these. Many coffin shapes also evoke proverbs, which are interpreted in different ways by the Ga. That is why these coffins are also called proverbial coffins (abebuu adekai).
Although for a long time Kane Kwei was supposed to be the inventor of these figurative coffins, it was demonstrated recently that there had been other carpenters making fantasy coffins already before Kane Kwei. The idea of making and using custom coffins had been inspired from the figurative palanquins in which the Ga chiefs in the olden time used to be carried and sometimes even buried. The 1919 born Ataa Oko
from La is one of those carpenters who started already around 1945 making custom coffins. Rumours in his home town La say that the idea then was taken over to the neighbouring towns and in just a few years the practice of making and using proverbial coffins spread throughout the Greater Accra region.Along with Kane Kwei from Teshie, there were other artists like Ataa Oko from La, who started this innovative art form latest in the early 1950ies. But as Ataa Oko was until 2002 not in contact with foreigners, he only made coffins for Ghanaian customers and thus remained unknown in Western art circles until 2006, when his work was for the first time exhibited in an art Museum. Uninfluenced by Western customers, Ataa Oko had developed his very own form of artistic language. His work is therefore different from those artists which come out of Kane Kweis tradition. Therefore it differs not only in terms of design and materials, but also in appearance from anything shown to date in Western museums.
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, in Europe also called custom, fantastic or proverbial coffins (abebuu adekai), are made by some talented carpenters in the Greater Accra Region in Ghana. These colourful objects which are not only coffins but also real pieces of art were shown for the first time to a wider western public in the exhibition Magiciens de la Terre at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris 1989. The seven coffins which were exposed in Paris were done by Kane Kwei
Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop
The Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop is a studio established in Teshie, Ghana, since the Fifties. It is known for its Design Coffins that became symbolic of African artistic creativity.- History :...
(1922–1992) and by his former assistant Paa Joe (*1947). Since then these art coffins of Kane Kwei, Paa Joe and other artists have been displayed in many international art museums and galleries around the world.
Origin and Meaning
The reason that mainly the southern Ghana-based Ga peopleGa people
The Ga-Adangbe are an ethnic group in the West African nation of Ghana. It is part of the Dangme ethnic group. The Ga people are grouped as part of theGa–Dangme ethnolinguistic group. They speak Kwa languages...
use such elaborate coffins for their funerals is explained by their religious beliefs regarding the afterlife. They believe that death is not the end and that life continues in the next world in the same way it did on earth. Ancestors are also thought to be much more powerful than the living and able to influence their relatives who are still alive. This is why families do everything they can to ensure that a dead person is sympathetic towards them as early as possible. The social status of the deceased depends primarily on the importance, success and usage of an exclusive coffin during a burial.
Fantasy coffins are only seen on the day of the burial when they are buried with the deceased. They often symbolise the dead people’s professions. Certain shapes, such as a sword or chair coffin, represent regal or priestly insignia with a magical and religious function. Only people with the appropriate status are allowed to be buried in these types of coffins. Various animals, such as lions, cockerels and crabs can represent clan totems. Similarly, only the heads of the families concerned are permitted to be buried in coffins such as these. Many coffin shapes also evoke proverbs, which are interpreted in different ways by the Ga. That is why these coffins are also called proverbial coffins (abebuu adekai).
History
Custom coffins are a relatively new tradition. They have been used in the Greater Accra region only since the 1950s especially in rural groups with traditional beliefs, but have now become an integral part of local burial culture.Although for a long time Kane Kwei was supposed to be the inventor of these figurative coffins, it was demonstrated recently that there had been other carpenters making fantasy coffins already before Kane Kwei. The idea of making and using custom coffins had been inspired from the figurative palanquins in which the Ga chiefs in the olden time used to be carried and sometimes even buried. The 1919 born Ataa Oko
Ataa Oko
thumb|Ataa Oko and his third wife, with a coffin in the form of a battleship, about 1960Ataa Oko is a Ghanaian coffin artist.-Biography:...
from La is one of those carpenters who started already around 1945 making custom coffins. Rumours in his home town La say that the idea then was taken over to the neighbouring towns and in just a few years the practice of making and using proverbial coffins spread throughout the Greater Accra region.Along with Kane Kwei from Teshie, there were other artists like Ataa Oko from La, who started this innovative art form latest in the early 1950ies. But as Ataa Oko was until 2002 not in contact with foreigners, he only made coffins for Ghanaian customers and thus remained unknown in Western art circles until 2006, when his work was for the first time exhibited in an art Museum. Uninfluenced by Western customers, Ataa Oko had developed his very own form of artistic language. His work is therefore different from those artists which come out of Kane Kweis tradition. Therefore it differs not only in terms of design and materials, but also in appearance from anything shown to date in Western museums.
Paa Joe
was born in 1947 in the region Akwapim (Ghana). He did his apprenticeship with Kane Kwei in Teshie, but left his master 1974. In 1976 he opened his own workshop in Nungua. 1989 he was invited at the exhibition "Les Magiciens de la terre" in Paris. Since then his coffins have been shown all over the world. 2005 they were exhibited in the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York, and 2006 he participated in the exhibition "Six Feet Under" at the Kunstmuseum Berne. 2007 he opened a new workshop in Pobiman near Accra.Eric Kpakpo
was born in 1979 in Nungua, Ghana. He learned the carpentry work from 1994 until 2000 at Paa Joes workshop in Nungua. He remained there as a master carpenter until 2006 when he opened his his own coffin studio in La.Daniel Mensah
called also Hello, was born in 1968 in Teshie, Ghana. He did his his six-year apprenticeship with Paa Joe in Nungua. He then spent eight more years with Paa Joe. Only in 1998 he opened his own studio "Hello Design Coffin Works" in Teshie. He participated in various art exhibition and in some european film projects. Recently he had an exhibition in the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (2011).Publications
- Ataa Oko, Ex. Cat., Collection de l'Art Brut (Hg), Infolio, 2010
- Roberta Bonetti: Alternate Histories of the Abebuu Adekai. African Arts, Autum 2010.
- Vivian Burns: Travel to Heaven: Fantasy Coffins. In: African Arts, Bd. 17, Nr. 2 (1974), S. 24-25
- Jean-Hubert Martin: Kane Kwei, Samuel Kane Kwei. In: André Magnin (Hg.): Contemporary Art of Africa. Thames and Hudson, London 1996, p. 76.
- Thierry Secretan: Going into darkness: Fantastic coffins from Africa. London 1995.
- Regula Tschumi: "A Report on Paa Joe an the Proverbial Coffins of Teshie and Nungua, Ghana", Africa et Mediterraneo, no. 47-8, 2004, pp. 44–7
- Regula Tschumi: Last Respects, First Honoured. Ghanaian Burial Rituals and Figural Coffins. In: Kunstmuseum Bern (Hrsg.): Six Feet Under. Autopsy of Our Relation to the Dead. Kerber, Bielefeld & Leipzig 2006, S. 114-125
- Regula Tschumi: The buried treasures of the Ga. Coffin Art in Ghana. Benteli, 2008. ISBN 978-3-7165-1520-4.
- Regula Tschumi: A Deathbed of a Living Man. A Coffin for the Centre Pompidou. In Sâadane Afif (ed.), „Anthologie de l’humour noir“, Paris: Ed. Centre Pompidou. 2010, p. 56-61.