Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
They’ll send you off in the most fantastic style
Paa Joe, son create amazing coffins
TUCKED away in a workshop in Plettenberg Bay, a Ghanaian father and son are creating fantasy coffins for South Africans.
Joseph “Paa Joe” Tetteh Ashong and his son Jacob have fascinated the world with their family tradition of fantasy coffins and palanquins in bold shapes and sizes.
The coffins resemble everything from lions and eagles to luxury cars, all designed to fulfil the desires and specifications of people who plan well before their death.
In 1989 former US president Jimmy Carter bought two coffins from the Ashongs. Ashong and son are in South Africa, making two coffins for a live art performance at the FNB Joburg Art Fair from September 11 to 13.
They are guests of Art Africa magazine, as part of the celebrations of the new pan African publication.
In SA they are represented by Art Africa editor-in-chief Suzette Bell- Roberts, whom people may contact if they want to commission a coffin.
Bell-Roberts said each coffin takes about six weeks to make.
The eagle and the cocoa pod are popular choices in the Ashongs’ home country as traditional Ghanain symbols.
This week, Jacob Ashong discussed their art and what they are preparing for the fair.
“We are located in Pobiman, Accra; the outskirts of the city. The culture of burying loved ones with the fantasy coffins is very important to these com- munities and other parts of Ghana. People want to show their last respects to the dead and they believe in afterlife.”
Paa Joe Ashong was an apprentice to his uncle Kane Kwei for 10 years, the founder of the fantasy coffin trend.
In 1976 Paa Joe started his own coffin business, becoming an ambassador for the art form, taking it further and popularising it.
Jacob Ashong began working closely with his father in 2008 shortly after high school, and is now both an apprentice and a secretary.
“There about 10 masters of these fantasy coffins in Ghana but Paa Joe is the grandfather, king and the living pioneer of this artwork,” said Jacob.
Coffin designs are often derived from the dead person’s occupation, family symbols and even addictions, while devout Christians may opt for coffins resembling Bibles and church buildings.
Jacob fondly remembers Carter’s visit.
“I was about 10 years when president Jimmy Carter visited. I was on school vacation
‘There are about
by then and he came in the night. I was very excited to see him and to exchange a handshake with him.”
Time is running out before the fair but the Ashongs are comfortable in Plettenberg Bay.
They are staying in a backpackers lodge and working in a space on the township side of the highway.
“We are working in one of the colleges in Plettenberg. We are okay working there because there are a lot of machines there to help speed our work since time is not on our side”.
For the performance, they are preparing an African eagle and a James Dean Porsche, models they have created many times before.
Prepare to be a little spooked as the performance will involve a funeral ceremony featuring Paa Joe.
Titled The Farewell, it is one of the fair’s opening events.
Paa Joe will be borne aloft, palanquin style, in the eagle coffin, carried by pall bearers and accompanied by mourners and singers.
The second scene will mourn the passing of the dead and Paa Joe’s entry into the spirit world.
“The performance will be in two phases: from how the palanquin was transformed into fantasy coffins. We hope to bury crisis, disappointment, setbacks in the second phase. And believe (it), my father will resurrect from where he has been sent to.”
Ashong hopes to take over the business eventually.
“I am looking forward to renovating the craft from fancy coffins to another level after my father’s retirement.”
The trend of colourful coffins is not exclusive to Ghana.
Local undertakers Tony Wyllie & Co are known to make colourful, eco-friendly coffins.
However, these have prints on the coffins instead of the Ashong’s sculpted ones.