Sunday, January 20, 2008

More from Ghana

I don't want to steal Chloe's topical thunder (and this is an amazing topic), but I wanted to post this picture of deceased Ghanian taxi driver Sowah Nortey actually inside his coffin.


The picture was taken for a 1997 Washington Post story on Ghanian funerals. I think that motivation for such ornate coffins is probably best summed up by one the coffin artisans: The deceased may have been poor in life, Joseph Tetteh said, but "when they die, no more poor."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

this just gave me an idea we could use. The boxes that I want the audience members to sit in can be designed by a carpenter but decorated by cast members based on their relationship with the history of death!