CONNECTIONS: Going Boldly into That Good Night

A large fish. An oversized Coca-Cola bottle. A hammer. A mobile phone. A shoe. They could be sculptures in a gallery in Paris. Instead, they're coffins. Handmade, very detailed, and created to carry a deceased Ghanaian into his afterlife. A fisherman might be buried in a fish, a pilot in a jet, and a cell phone salesman in a huge Nokia mobile phone.
This particular tradition is only about 50 years old and came about, legend has it, when a certain craftsman who built chairs for village chiefs was in the process of building an elaborate chair in the shape of a cocoa pod. The chief died before the creation was finished, and it became his coffin instead. A few years later, the grandmother of one of the craftsman's apprentices died, and because she'd always wanted to fly on an airplane, one was built for her fond farewell. Nowadays, tourists and travelers passing through the region can walk along the coastal market in the suburb of Teshi, near the capital city Accra, and find dozens of such coffins on display in store windows.
While the coffins are exquisite and finely crafted, they are also very expensive. For an average Ghanaian, who earns less than $2 a day, a $400 or more coffin can be hard to afford. But death is serious business in this part of Africa, and these designer fantasy coffins have become an important status symbol. The Ghanaians organize lavish feasts and spend a lot of money on funeral arrangements to make sure the deceased goes out in style. A funeral with all traditions and rituals, they believe, helps the dead relative find peace in the afterlife.
The coffins are now becoming art pieces too, and international collectors and museums pay as much as $500 to $2,000 for specially designed coffins, which are then shipped to North America and Europe. An Air Canada jet in Emmanuel Ofori's workshop is made on special order, he says, for a customer in - where else? - Canada.
But maybe we should stop collecting these designer fantasy coffins and start using them. Americans often spend many thousands of dollars on dreary, impersonal boxes.Wouldn't it be more fun to celebrate our lives with something beautiful and meaningful? Why not rest in a piece of art that truly reflects the life of the body that lies inside it?
Mridu Khullar