Known for their funeral celebrations and processions, Paa Joe taps into the tradition of buried the deceased in a coffin that reflects their personality, occupation, or their standing in the community.
He is leaving Ghana for only the second time in his life to spend a month as an artist in residence at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire, to show his coffins shaped like lions, Viking long boats and even trains.
Paa Joe’s works are exhibited internationally as examples of the Ga culture and the craftsman-turned artist is to be the subject of a documentary by Benjamin Wigley.
According to his spokesperson, Paa Joe, since he was sixteen has been crafting beautiful coffins that represent the lives of the people for whom they are made – a Coca Cola bottle for a street vendor or a lion for the head of a family. He has produced thousands of coffins, the majority of which lie deep under the ground.
But most people wouldn't dwell so much on the appearance of their own coffin. After all, you're dead, so it doesn't really matter what you're buried in. What do you think?
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