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 4th 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.
huh. Would never have thought of it!
Quite amazing.
Thanks for the comment. The artist’s work is fantastic! All of us at OCAC have the rare treat of watching him create a fantasy coffin from scratch for the next week. It’ll be fun to watch it develop!
i LOVE the idea of fantasy coffins!
Me TOO! His lecture was absolutely fantastic. We learned all about various burial rituals and the process of making these incredible works. It was a blast.
Thanks for visiting my blog, Kevin.
You create a really informative blog for your college. Love these coffins – what a lot of work and creativity goes into them. It must be amazing to see how one is made.
Thanks, mississhippi, for the kind remarks. It has been really fascinating to see him create a coffin from scratch. He’s working on it in a centralized courtyard at the college, where most people pass by each day. Watching him work, it’s almost a performance piece. Best, Kevin
Those are amazing! I’ll have to read more about the Ga and how they view funerals…
Thanks for visiting my blog!
They truly are amazing! The fish coffin he is constructing on our campus is nearly complete, and, it’s stunning. It’s been a lot of fun to what it evolve. Glad you liked the post!