Soap Magazine
I almost miss the workshop on a busy coastal road in the Ghanaian capital. The faded sign reading Kane Kwei Coffins in block letters sits prominently outside a small structure set between a three-story supermarket and a few ramshackle buildings. Children run around coffins of all shapes and colors: a chili pepper, a cat, a scorpion.
The finished coffins are smooth to the touch, painted in vibrant shades that shine despite the seasonal Harmattan dust coating every surface. Inside the workshop, a group of young apprentices saw grooves into a block of wood that will become a coffin in the shape of a cocoa pod. Founded in the 1950s by Seth Kane Kwei, this is thought to be the oldest coffin shop specializing in abebuu adekai: proverb boxes.
In the last 50 years, these fantasy coffins have become one of Ghana’ s most unique cultural exports. The curious tradition
16
“ Over the years, I’ ve become more actively engaged in the design process from start to finish. I think that’ s what really helped me transcend just being a carpenter to being a true artist with a vision.”