The workshop in Teshie, southeast Accra, is where Ghana's most distinctive art form has its roots. Founder Seth Kane Kwei began making shaped coffins for his own family in the 1950s — a fantasy coffin for a chief who had never flown but dreamed of aeroplanes, a cocoa pod for a farmer — and the tradition spread across the Ga community. Now run by Kane Kwei's grandson Paa Joe, the workshop still takes commissions from families across Ghana and from collectors worldwide. Examples have been acquired by the British Museum, the Smithsonian, and major contemporary art institutions.
Visiting in person is the best way to see the work. Pieces in progress fill the yard — an oversized shoe, a mobile phone two metres long, a stingray ready for paint. The craftsmen are generally happy to let visitors watch; call ahead or arrive in the morning when work is underway. Coffins can be commissioned on a long lead time, or smaller pieces purchased as art objects. This is the source of something genuinely unique to Ghana, and a workshop worth making the trip to Teshie for.