Description
(Text)
For some fifty years, the Ga of Grater Accra in southern Ghana have produced coffins in the shape of animals, fruits and status symbols. This unique practice is explored in depth here for the first time in a publication featuring a scholarly text an informative illustrations. In addition to investigating the origins of the figurative coffins in the art an beliefs of the Ga, ethnologist Regula Tschumi examines the socia-cultural context, descusses manufacturing techniques and working conditions, and acquaints the reader with the achievements of the mos important craftsmen. In word and images she also vividly describes several funerals hat she witnessed. She shows how "the buied treasures of the Ga" are far more than art objects created for museums and galleries: rooted in ancient beliefs, they form an intergral part of Ghanaian funderal ceremonies and burial rites.
(Author portrait)
Regula Tschumi studied ethnology, the history of art and religion, and, since 2002, has repeatedly done field research in West and East Africa on art and religion-ethnology topics. She has also authored several articles and the richly illustrated "Die vergrabenen Schätze de Ga. Sargkunst aus Ghana" (2006) which was also published in English (2008) and French (2011).
