Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop

The Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop is a studio established in Teshie (5.587742°N 0.099610°W / 5.587742; -0.099610), Ghana, since the Fifties. It is known for its Design Coffins that became symbolic of African artistic creativity.

History

Seth Kane Kwei ( 1922-1992 ) was a carpenter joiner established in Teshie, in the suburbs of Accra in Ghana. He is considered as the inventor at the beginning of 1950s of the design coffins or fantasy coffins, called Abebuu adekai (" boxes with proverbs ") by Ga people that is the dominant ethnic group of the region of Accra.

The use of these coffins during the burial in Ga country became widespread from the beginning 1960s, becoming de facto a real tradition. Design coffins are acknowledged as symbolic of the contemporary creation in Africa.

At the death of Kane Kwei, his son Sowah took over the workshop, then Cedi - junior child of Kane Kwei- after the death of Sowah in 1999. Since 2005, Eric Adjetey Anang (born 1985, son of Cedi) attempts to revitalize the creativity of the studio by the introduction of new models, the creation of furniture realized in the same spirit and with the same techniques as the coffins.

About ten carpenter's workshops established in Teshie and in the region of Accra produce similar coffins. Among them, we find Tei in Dorwanya, Lay and Hello in Teshie, Tetteh in Amasaman and Tetteh Red in Ningo. Their bosses are former apprentices of Kane Kwei or his successors. Furthermore there are the workshops of Kudjo Affutu and the master craftsmen Paa Joe and Paa Willie in Nungua, both of them trained carpenters at Kane Kwei's, before they opened their own shops.

The studio in 2010

The Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop
staged by Guy Hersant on January 10, 2010

The Kane Kwei workshop uses light wood as wawa wawa (white wood) or emien for the coffins intended for funerals. Those dedicated to the export as artworks are made from harder and more expensive wood as limba or African Mahogany.

The Kane Kwei workshop is profoundly anchored in the Ga tradition, both by the genesis of its productions, by protocols framing their local use, and by its kind of functioning based on apprentices, which number can reach about ten. At the end of the apprenticeship which lasts from two to five years, a traditional ceremony is organized. In this occasion, the apprentice has to pay a sum of money, donate alcoholic drinks, a parasol, a pair of sandals to the boss of the workshop and a certificate is put handed to him.

The manufacturing process of coffin begins by the scrupulous observation of visual documents reproducing the considered model - even of the very model, an alive hen for example - at once followed by its performance in three dimensions. Neither plans nor sketches are realized in prerequisite to their manufacturing.

If some units had been acquired in the 70s by some american gallery owners (Vivian Burns in 1973, Ernie Wolfe, both from Los Angeles) it is from 1989 when these objects reached an international gratitude recognition as oeuvres of art.

Their successive displays in the exhibitions Magiciens de la terre (1989, Musée National d'Art Moderne (Centre Georges Pompidou), Paris and Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris - Curator Jean-Hubert Martin) and "Africa Explores" (1992, New Museum of Modern Art, New York - Curator Susan Vogel) were release mechanisms of this recognition.

On the initiative of the Studio, artistic partnerships with western structures were implemented and residences of foreign artists organized.

Coffins created by Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop - not exhaustive list

Type	Subject
Animals	Eagle• Antelope • Whale • Cameleon • Dove • Coq • Crab • Turkey • Crayfish • Elephant • Snail • Lobster • Lion • Peacok • Parrot • Red fish • Striped fish • Catfish • tilapia • Pig • Hen • Shark • Sardine • Snake • Tuna • Turtle • Cow • Aulacode (Thryonomys swinderianus)
Buildings	Church • House
Fruits and vegetables	Pineapple• Banana • Cocoa pod • Sugar cane • Corn • Palm nut • Onion• Red pepper • Green pepper • Pumpkin
Objects	Soccer ball • Bible • Bottle of Star® beer • Bottle of Coca Cola® • Can of Aquarius® energy drink • Soccer shoe • Spaner • Traditional sword • Hunting gun • Machine gun • Guitar • “Graphic” newspaper • Fishing net • Spoon • Sewing machine • Pot • Hammer • Microphone • Outboard engine • Piano • Cinema projector • Plane • Robot • Flour bag • Chief's scepter • Saw • Seringe • Referee whistle • Smith's bellows • Ballpoint with notebook • Asante stool • Bass drum • Talking drum • Mobile phone • Trowel
Vehicles	Ambulance • 32 seats bus • Aircraft (Ghana Airways) • Aircraft (KLM) • Cruise ship • Bedford truck • Garbage truck • Fire truck • Fishing boat • War tank • Volkswagen minibus • Tractor • Mercedes-Benz car • Toyota Corolla
Others	Sun

Presence of the studio on the international cultural stage since 2005

2009

• « Life is Wonderful » - Commercial clip for Aquarius soft drink, shot in Teshie, based on the history of Kane Kwei's deisgn coffins and workshop. Sra Rushmore Agency for pour Coca Cola Spain. Madrid, Spain.
• « Colorfull into darkness » - Exhibition of eight design coffins in Antwerp (Belgium). « Boulevard Amandla » Project. Afro Antwerpens Kunstenforum / Verbeke Foundation. Anvers, Belgium.
• Public order for the Royal Ontario Museum. Ontario, Canada.
• Resident artist for two months: Michael Deforest, Oregon College of Art & Craft, Portland, USA. Oregon College of Arts and Crafts et Atelier Kane Kwei.
• 26 minutes TV programme on the studio. El Mondo TV. Madrid, Spain.
• « Ghana art Coffins in exhibition in Antwerp, Belgium » - Online article about the Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop participation in « Boulevard Amandla ».
• One hour radio programme on the workshop and the Ganaian poet Nii Aye. Radio Central, Anvers, Belgium.
• Private order of eight coffins. Los Angeles, CA, USA.

2008

• « Moment with Mo Abudu » - One hour TV programme featuring Eric Adjetey Anang on the workshop creations. M-Net TV studios. Lagos, Nigeria.
• Private order of two coffins. Netherlands.
• Interview of Eric Adjetey Anang. Arte Television, Germany.

2007

• Institutional order of five coffins. FISA fondation, Sevilla, Spain.

Exhibitions up to 2005

Group exhibitions

• 2005 "Arts of Africa“, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, France
• 2005 "African Art Now”, Museum of Fine Art, Houston, USA
• 2005 "Sexualität und Tod - AIDS in der Zeitgenössischen Afrikanischen Kunst", RJM Museum, Cologne, Germany.
• 2003 "Ghana: hier et aujourd’hui=Ghana: Yesterday and today", Musée Dapper, Paris, France
• 1998 "AFRICA Vibrant New Art from a Dynamic Continent”, Tobu Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan.
• 1996 "Neue Kunst aus Afrika“, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany.
• 1993 "Skizzen eines Projektes“, Ludwig Forum für internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany.
• 1991 "Africa Explores: 20th Century African Art”, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, USA.
• 1989 "Magiciens de la Terre”, National Museum of Contemporary Art - Georges Pompidou Center, La Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France.

Solo exhibitions

• 2000 "Ein Fisch für die letzte Ruhe“, Museum auf dem Ohlsdorfer Friedhof, Hamburg, Germany.
• 1998 "Kane Kwei”, Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art, Geneva, Switzerland.
• 1997 "Wie das Leben, so der Sarg...Nam June Paik“, Ifa Gallery, Bonn, Germany.

Website

http://www.ghanacoffin.com

Bibliography

• Accam 1972 : Accam, T., Dangme and Klama Proverbs, University of Legon, Ghana, 1972.
• Albertazzi 1989 : L. Albertazzi. The magicians convene in Paris / / photographs by Charles Dolfi-Michele. In Contemporanea. 2 (5), July-August 1989, pages 54-61. New York.
• Barber 1987 : Karin Barber, Popular Arts in Africa, African Studies Review, 30 (3), 1987, p. 1-78.
• Bonetti 2009 : Roberta Bonetti,Abebuu adekai chez les Ga du Ghana. Un regard anthropologique sur l’image, in Histoire de l'art et anthropologie, Paris, coédition INHA / musée du quai Branly (« Les actes »), 2009.
• Bonetti 2009 : Roberta Bonetti, Absconding in plain sight. The Ghanaian Receptacles of Proverbs revisited, RES, 55/56, Spring Autumn 2009.
• Bonetti 2008 : Roberta Bonetti, Antropologia di oggetti funerari tra arte, mercato e musei, Quaderni LEA, (3) Bologne, Baiesi, 2008.
• Bonetti 2005 : Roberta Bonetti, Artefacts in Transit, Laboratorio di Etno-Antropologia, (4) Bologne, Baiesi, 2005.
• Burns 1974 : Vivian Burns, Travel to Heaven : fantasy coffins. In African arts. 7 (2) winter 1974, pages 24-25. Los Angeles.
• Danquah 1928 : Joseph Boakye Danquah, Gold Coast: Akan Laws and Customs London, George Routledge & Sons, LTD, 1928.
• Dupuis 1981 : Annie Dupuis, Rites de la mort, catalogue d’exposition, Musée de l’Homme, Paris, 1981.
• Fabian 1987 : Johannes Fabian, Popular culture in Africa : findings and conjectures, Africa, 48 (4), 1978, p. 315-334.
• Field 1961 : M.J. Field, Social organisation of the Ga people, The Crown Agents for the Colony, Londres, 1940.
• Freedberg 1993 : David Freedberg, Il Potere delle immagini, Turin, Einaudi, 1993.
• Gell 1998 : Alfred Gell, Art and Agency: An Anthropological Theory, Oxford, Clarendon Press,1998.
• Ghana National Archives, Accra 1888: An Ordinance to provide for interments in cemeteries and to prohibit intramural sepulture. By sir William Brandford Griffith. ADM 4/1/8 Gold Coast Ordinance No. 7, 1888.
• Gilbert 1995 : Michelle Gilbert, The Christian Executioner: Christianity and Chieftaincy as Rivals, Journal of Religion in Africa, XXV, 4, 1995, p. 347-386.
• Goody 1962 : Jack Goody, Death, Property and the Ancestor. A Study of the Mortuary Customs of the LoDagaa of West Africa, Londres, Tavistock, 1962.
• Griffiths 2000 : Hannah R. Griffiths, Diverted journeys : the social lives of ghanian fantasy coffins, occasional papers, University of Edinburgh, Center of African Studies, 2000.
• Guidieri 1998 : Remo Guidieri, Fantasmagoria di Icona e Feticcio, Turin, Hopefulmonster, 1998.
• Jegede 2000 : Dele Jegede, Kane Kwei. In Contemporary African art: five artists, diverse trends. Pages 52-56. Indianapolis: Indianpolis Museum of Art, 2000.
• Konniger 1999 : Saskia Konniger, De herkomst van de Ghanese doodkist : designerkisten uit Ghana. In Nieuwsbrief van de Vereniging Vrienden van Etnografica. no. 67, zomer 1999, pages 27-44. Hilversum, Netherlands, 1999.
• Kropp Dakubu 1999 : Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu, dir., Ga-English Dictionary, Language Centre, University of Ghana, and M. E. Kropp Dakubu, Accra, 1999.
• Martin, 1993 : Jean-Hubert Martin. Kane Kwei. In Kunstforum international. Bd. 122, 1993, pages 278-279. Mainz.
• McClusky 2002 : Pamela McClusky, Riding into the next life : a Mercedes-Benz coffin.in Art from Africa: long steps never broke a back. Pages 244-251. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum in association with Lund Humphries, 2002.
• Monod 1994 : Ninette Monod. Perception : die in style, die with us! In Around Ghana. no. 3, August-September 1994, pages 5-7. Accra.
• Oguibe 1995 : Olu Oguibe, Art, boundaries : the Rome lecture. in Nka : journal of contemporary African art. N°3, fall-winter 1995, pages 26-33, Brooklyn, NY, 1995.
• Quarcoopome 2003 : Nii O. Quarcoopome, Majestueux départs vers l'au-delà = Majestic rides into the afterlife. In Ghana: hier et aujourd'hui = yesterday and today. Pages 261-283. Paris: Musée Dapper, 2003.
• Rouch 1957 : Jean Rouch, Migrations au Ghana (Gold Coast), éditions du CNRS, Paris, 1957.
• Secretan 1995 : Buried treasure / / photographs by Thierry Secretan ; text by Amanda Mitchison. Independent magazine. no. 349, May 27, 1995, pages 20-25. London.
• Secrétan 1994 : Thierry Secretan, Il fait sombre, va-t-en !, Paris, Editions Hazan, 1994.
• Soppelsa 1994 : Robert T. Soppelsa. A life well lived : fantasy coffins of Kane Quaye, Gallery of Art, University of Missouri-Kansas City, September 23-October 21, 1994. In African arts. 28 (2) spring 1995, pages 74-75. Los Angeles.
• Soulillou 1995 : Jacques Soulillou. The solubility of Ghanaian coffins in a cathodic milieu = De la solubilité des cercueils ghanéens en milieu cathodique. In Revue noire. no. 16, mars-avril-mai 1995, pages 88-89. Paris.
• Tschumi 2010: Regula Tschumi, "Ataa Oko et la langage formel des Ga" in: "Ataa Oko", Collection de l'Art Brut (Hg), Infolio Editions, 2010
• Tschumi 2010: Regula Tschumi, "Coup de projecteur sur quatre dessins" in: "Ataa Oko", Collection de l'Art Brut (Hg), Infolio Editions, 2010
• Tschumi 2008: The buried treasures of the Ga. Coffin Art in Ghana. Benteli, 2008, deutsch: Die vergrabenen Schätze der Ga. Sarg-Kunst aus Ghana. Benteli, 2006.
• Tschumi 2006: Regula Tschumi, Last Respects, First Honoured. Ghanaian Burial Rituals and Figural Coffins. in: Kunstmuseum Bern (Hrsg.): Six Feet Under. Autopsy of Our Relation to the Dead. Kerber, Bielefeld & Leipzig 2006, S. 114-125. Deutsch: Die letzte Ehre kommt zuerst. Ghanaische Bestattungsrituale und figürliche Särge. S. 114-125*
• Tschumi 2004: Regula Tschumi, "A Report on Paa Joe an the Proverbial Coffins of Teshie and Nungua, Ghana", Africa et Mediterraneo, nos. 47-8, 2004, pp. 44-7
• Uzoigwe 1990 : Nkecji Uzoigwe. Grave arts of Ghana.in West Africa. no. 3783, February 26-March 4, 1990, pages 349-350. London.
• Vogel 1991 : Susan Mullin Voger. New functional art : future traditions.in Africa explores : 20th century African art. Pages 94-113. New York: Center for African Art; Munich: Prestel-Verlag, c1991
• Witte 2001 : Marlene de Witte, Long Live the Dead! Changing Funeral Celebrations in Asante, Ghana, Amsterdam, Aksant Academic Publishers, 2001.

Films

Les cercueils de Monsieur Kane Kwei, Thierry Secretan, 1989