Paa Joe started making coffins in 1962 and specialises in rather unusual ones. These coffins are known as Abebuu Adekai in the Ga language, meaning 'the receptacle of proverbs'.
ADVERTISEMENTSeventy-two-year-old Paa Joe started making coffins in 1962 and specialises in rather unusual ones.
These "fantasy coffins" are known as Abebuu Adekai in the Ga language, meaning "the receptacle of proverbs".
But Paa Joe says his caskets stand as a celebration of the departed's life. The shapes he carves represent the professions of the deceased – sailing ships for sailors, airplanes for pilots, tanks for soldiers and fish for fishermen.
His large body of work also includes Coca-Cola bottles, chickens, cars and a lion. Other coffin makers in the Greater Accra region have made replicas of hairdryers for hairdressers, bottles of whisky for bartenders, and even a giant talcum powder bottle labelled "Paradis".
Paa Joe's caskets have been exhibited in art galleries around the world and museums have commissioned him to make specific pieces, whilst ordinary Ghanaians continue to come to him to bury their loved ones.