29. “A Life Well Lived: fantasy coffins of Kane Quaye”

In the Centrum Studio this afternoon at 12:45pm, OCAC will have the pleasure of hosting a visiting art lecture by Eric Adjetey Anang. His coffin-making demonstration/installation will run from October 31st – November 4^th in the Centrum Courtyard. Don’t Miss it!

Eric Adjetey Anang is the grandson of Kane Kwei, who first designed and made fantasy coffins in Teshie, Ghana during the 1950’s. Eric Adjetey Anang, as well as his father before him, has continued to carry on the tradition of crafting fantasy coffins today, and his work is collected by museums and galleries around the world.

For this week’s library pick, we have selected an exhibition pamphlet that celebrates the work of Eric Adjetey Anang’s grandfather. It is titled, A Life Well Lived: fantasy coffins of Kane Quaye.  The book not only provides a thoughtful introduction by Christine Mullen Kreamer that helps place the artist’s work within social and cultural contexts, but it also provides a lot of information about the significance of funerals in Ga Society as well as large, colorful images of many of the artist’s fantasy coffins, including: “Bull,” “Chicken,” “Fish,” “Fishing Canoe,” “KLM Airplane,” “Leopard,” “Lobster,” “Mercedes Benz Automobile,” and (possibly my favorite) the “Yamaha Outboard Motor.”

Each piece, as the curator (Craig Allen Subler) notes is “rich in symbolism and replete with faithfully recorded and masterfully interpreted images” and they “stand for lives well lived and remembered” (3). Prepare to be amazed.