Paa Joe & The Lion: The story of Ghana’s legendary craftsman and ‘fantasy coffin’ maker

For many, death is not something that is celebrated and is often a sombre affair. Having attended a fair few funerals myself I’m always interested when instead of mourning the loss of life, the gathering of people invited are there to celebrate life and share stories of the impact the person left.

Craftsman Paa Joe takes this celebration to a new level by creating ‘fantasy coffins’ reflecting the lives of the deceased in elaborate sculpted pieces ranging from lions to coke bottles and even mobile phones. His work redefines the idea of what death means and instead chooses to make the  final goodbye somewhat of a celebratory affair.

His work has travelled the world and was even featured at The Southbank Centre’s Celebration of Life festival last year. His intriguing story has now been made into a documentary by independent filmmaker Ben Wigley.

The project which is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter has recently garnered the interest of MP Lord Boateng who is of Ghanian and Scottish heritage and has now pledged to come on board as an associate producer for the documentary.

For more information about how you can support the making of the film check out the project’s Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages.




My beautiful picture

source: Wikipedia

source: Wikipedia

source: ghettobasquake

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