Headline, April29, 2013

'''THE ART OF -DEATH- FROM AFRICA'''

In the West, you buy Warhols to display wealth and status; in Ghana you get buried in a Mercedes. They are crafted according to the station in life of the deceased  -or soon to be departed.

The Mercedes would be for the businessman; corn, tomato or onion for a farmer. There are also mobile phones, Coke, Pepsi and 7up, crabs and so on. One is more colourful, cartoonish, and kitschier than the next. For the hedge funder, there's smart lace up brogue.

Joseph Ashong -AKA ''Paa Joe''- who runs a workshop outside Accra, is a folk artist specialising in what he calls proverbial caskets:

''intriguing imaginations of helping to convert the departed on a flamboyant manner to the world of the unknown, while providing him/her a royal ride in to the next world.''

Pointing out how these works of art are beyond any economic cycle, one of the leading lights of the trade in coffin-making Kane Kwei, extrapolates as such: ''All a dead person owes is his coffin. For Ga, the dominant ethnic community in the region surrounding Accra, the capital of Ghana, it is better to incur lifelong debts than to cut back on funeral expenses.''

Be it wife or the husband, incurring llifelong debt, should be the cause of the funeral anyway.! But the funerary art form of funeral ritual prior to being buried six-foot under-  means that that these objects of art have a brief shelf life before they are obscured forever never to be seen again.

One particular author decided to give the power of the contemporary art to suck it all in and spit it all out. This how he narrates: I first encountered the artist and his designer coffins at Jack Bell gallery in Vauxhall, London. The dealer tried to get me to buy two Paa Joes, stating how much shipping and custom duties could be reduced with the addition of another coffin  -to which I replied that I would only die once.

At first it was little more than just another artwork among artworks that I thought would like rather cool plunked in the middle of my house. But then it occurred to me that I may be tempting fate by putting a coffin smack in the middle of my bedroom. I guess I was enthralled by the notion of a bespoke demise, a final lap around the track.

My Porsche was taking shape nicely and was an amazing process to witness. Seemingly unrelated pieces of wood were nailed and glued together to the frame, which initially looked nothing like the car I had commissioned, until, with no more than a hand trowel, the surfaces were smoothed into the familiar form.

Granted, the shut lines of the lid appeared slightly off, as they do with most Ghanian coffins, but its all a part of the attraction and, unwittingly, probably contribute to a virtual feast for bugs when these things are put in actual use.

Hahaha'

Then the eagle finally landed  -after nearly a year of waiting. it arrived, albeit a bit banged up after the long trip to from Ghana. But it's a car  -what can you expect? Not many people can say they welcomed, looked forward to such an even, such an unveiling. It's a car that drives you to the next world, yet with my sense of direction, I would probably get lost. Hahaha!''

With respectful dedication to all those who missed the opportunity of driving up to meet the creator in a car of your a choice, say a  Porsche 911.27 RS in baby blue. Or lodging yourself in a iPhone or better still an iPad!

So any reservations or bookings for the ride of your afterlife!

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless