Teshie, near Accra, 1950s. The carpenter Seth Kane Kwei builds a palanquin shaped like a cocoa pod for a local chief.
The chief dies before he can use it. The family decides something unusual: to bury him right there.
Thus, almost by accident, one of the world’s most fascinating funeral traditions was born. Soon after, Kane Kwei carved an airplane-shaped coffin for his own grandmother, who dreamed of flying all her life and never did.
From then on, among the Ga people, each coffin became a mirror: fishermen buried in giant fish, photographers in wooden cameras, someone else in a shoe or a car, depending on what they loved in life.
The workshop still stands in Teshie, now run by Eric Adjetey Anang, the creator’s grandson. His works have reached the British Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. What shape would you choose for the end of your story? 😅
