Fantasy coffin
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2020) |
Fantasy coffins or figurative coffins, also called “FAVs” (fantastic afterlife vehicles) and custom, fantastic, or proverbial coffins (abebuu adekai),
Origin and meaning
Fantasy coffins are mainly used by the southern Ghana-based
Fantasy coffins are only displayed on the day when they are buried with the deceased. They often symbolize the deceased person's profession. Certain shapes, such as a sword or stool, represent regal or priestly insignia with a magical and religious function. Only people with the appropriate status are allowed to be buried in such coffins. Animals such as lions, cockerels and crabs may be used to represent clan totems. Similarly, only the heads of clan families are permitted to be buried in coffins of that particular shape. Many coffin shapes evoke proverbs, which are interpreted in different ways by the Ga. That is why fantasy coffins are sometimes called proverbial coffins (abebuu adekai) or okadi adekai in the Ga language.
History
Among Christians, the use of custom coffins is relatively recent and began in the Greater Accra Region around 1950. They were formerly used only by Ga chiefs and priests, but since around 1960, figurative coffins have become an integral part of the local funeral culture.[4] Previous to their use by Christians, Ga had been using figurative palanquins and coffins since the early 20th century.[5]
The invention of figurative coffins was at one point attributed to Seth Kane Kwei, though the anthropologists Roberta Bonetti[6] and Regula Tschumi question this myth. The idea of making and using custom coffins was inspired by the figurative palanquins in which the Ga chiefs were carried, and in which they were sometimes buried.[7] According to some sources, Ataa Oko from La may have started making custom coffins and figurative palanquins around 1945. Along with Kane Kwei from Teshie and Ataa Oko from La, other carpenters may have begun making them in the early 1950s.
Manufacture
Figurative coffins are produced to order. Master carpenters employ one or more apprentices who carry out a large part of the work. This allows the artist to make several coffins simultaneously. Coffins are generally made from the wood of the local wawa tree. In the interest of durability, items produced for museums are made from mahogany or another high-grade hardwood so as to guard against cracking and attacks by insects when transferred from one climate to another. Each coffin takes two to six weeks to produce, depending on the complexity of the construction and the carpenter's level of experience. For urgent orders, several carpenters will work on a single piece. The woodworking is done using simple, non-electric tools. Painting can take up to two days to complete. Some models are painted by the head of the workshop, others by local sign writers, some of whom are well known in the Western art market for making hand-painted movie posters. Coffin-makers and sign-painters usually decide together on the patterns and colors to use for a coffin.[8]
Notable artists
Kudjoe Affutu
Kudjoe Affutu was born in 1985 in Awutu Bawyiase, Central Region, Ghana. He was trained from 2002 to 2006 by Paa Joe in Nungua, Greater Accra Region. Since 2007 he has run his own workshop in Awutu Bawyiase, Central Region.
Kudjoe Affutu has collaborated with various European artists, including
Eric Adjetey Anang
Born in 1985,
Paa Joe
Paa Joe was born in 1947 in the region of Akwapim, Ghana. He completed an apprenticeship with Kane Kwei in Teshie but left in 1974. In 1976, he opened his own workshop in Nungua. In 1989, he was invited to show his work in the exhibition "Les Magiciens de la terre" in Paris. Since then, his coffins have been shown all over the world. In 2005, they were exhibited in the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York and Jack Bell Gallery London. In 2006, he participated in the exhibition "Six Feet Under" at the Kunstmuseum Bern. In 2007, he opened a new workshop in Pobiman near Accra[9] and in May 2013 he was in a resident artist in the UK with his son Jacob. He was the subject of the Artdocs film Paa Joe and the Lion directed by Benjamin Wigley and produced by Anna Griffin, released in 2016.
Eric Kpakpo
Eric Kpakpo was born in 1979 in Nungua, Ghana. He studied carpentry from 1994 until 2000 at Paa Joe's workshop in Nungua. He remained there as a master carpenter until 2006, when he opened his own coffin workshop in La and became one of the most successful coffin artists in his region. He occasionally works with his former master Paa Joe. He has also made a name for himself in the international art market, particularly for his miniature coffins. In 2019, Kpakpo's work was shown in Ghana at the mobile museum of the Ghanaian curator Nana Oforiatta Ayim.
Daniel "Hello" Mensah
Daniel Mensah, also known as "Hello," was born in 1968 in Teshie, Ghana. He completed a six-year apprenticeship with Paa Joe in Nungua before spending eight more years with Paa Joe. In 1998, he opened his own studio, Hello Design Coffin Works, in Teshie. His work has been shown in various international art exhibitions and European films. In 2011, his work was shown at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.
Ataa Oko
Gallery
-
Hen coffin by Kudjoe Affutu, 2008.
-
Ataa Oko and Kudjoe Affutu with Okos red rooster coffin 2009.
-
Centre Pompidou coffin, Kudjoe Affutu, 2010.
References
- ^ Alternate Histories of the Abebuu Adekai. Roberta Bonetti, African Arts, Autumn 2010.
- ^ A Deathbed of a Living Man. A Coffin for the Centre Pompidou. Regula Tschumi in Sâadane Afif (ed.), „Anthologie de l’humour noir“, Paris: Editions Centre Pompidou. 2010. P.56.
- ^ The buried treasures of the Ga. Coffin art in Ghana. Regula Tschumi. Bern: Benteli 2008, p. 230-31.
- ^ The buried treasures of the Ga. Coffin art in Ghana. Regula Tschumi. Bern: Benteli 2008, p. 52-66.
- ^ Regula Tschumi: The Figurative Palanquins of the Ga. History and Significance, in: African Arts, Vol. 46, Nr. 4, 2013, S. 60-73.
- ^ Roberta Bonetti, Alternate Histories of the Abebuu Adekai, African Arts, autumn 2010, p. 14-33: Roberta Bonetti reached the same conclusion as Regula Tschumi considers the well-known stories about the origin of the figure-coffins to have been invented: „[...] We have seen how the same criteria of authenticity that were fundamental in documenting the uniqueness and truthfulness of ancient works have been adopted for recent coffins. The proof is provided by the presumed origin of the work, which has become even more precious and exceptional ever since the death of its „invented“ inventor, Kane Kwei“.
- ^ The buried treasures of the Ga. Coffin art in Ghana. Regula Tschumi. Bern: Benteli 2008, p. 57, 221-22.
- ^ The buried treasures of the Ga. Coffin art in Ghana. Regula Tschumi. Bern: Benteli 2008, p. 63-81. Regula Tschumi 2011. Death-bed of a living man. A coffin for the centre Pompidou, in: Eva Huttenlauch (ed): "Another Anthology of Black Humor", MMK Frankfurt: Kunstbuchverlag Nürnberg. p. 46-47.
- ^ The buried treasures of the Ga. Coffin art in Ghana. Regula Tschumi. Bern: Benteli 2008, p. 242-43.
- ^ Six Feet Under, 2006. Art Museum Bern, and "Six Feet Under" 2007/2008 in the Deutsches Hygienemuseum, Dresden.
- ^ Ataa Oko, Ex. Cat., Collection de l'art brut (Hg), Infolio, 2010, p. 15-34.
Bibliography
- Regula Tschumi: Concealed Art. The figurative palanquins and coffins of Ghana. Edition Till Schaap, Bern. ISBN 978-3-03828-099-6.
- Regula Tschumi: The buried treasures of the Ga: Coffin art in Ghana. Edition Till Schaap, Bern, 2014. ISBN 9783038280163. A revised and updated second edition of Benteli 2008.
- Regula Tschumi: The Figurative Palanquins of the Ga. History and Significance, in: African Arts, vol. 46, no. 4, 2013, p. 60-73
- Ataa Oko, Ex. Cat., Collection de l'art brut (ed), Infolio, 2010
- Roberta Bonetti: Alternate Histories of the Abebuu Adekai, in: African Arts, Bd. 43, no. 3, 2010, p. 14-33.
- Vivian Burns: Travel to Heaven: Fantasy Coffins, in: African Arts, vol. 17, no. 2 (1974), p. 24-25
- Jean-Hubert Martin: Kane Kwei, Samuel Kane Kwei, in: André Magnin (ed.): 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 and the Proverbial Coffins of Teshie and Nungua, Ghana, in: 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 (ed.): Six Feet Under. Autopsy of Our Relation to the Dead. Kerber, Bielefeld & Leipzig 2006, p. 114-125.
- Regula Tschumi: A Deathbed of a Living Man. A Coffin for the Centre Pompidou, in: Sâadane Afif (ed.), Anthologie de l’humour noir. Edition Centre Pompidou, Paris 2010, p. 56–61.