Buried in Style: Artistic Coffins and Funerary Culture in Ghana

Celebrate death as we celebrate life: This is the credo of the funeral culture of the Ghanaian ethnic group Ga-Adangme, where creative coffins in the shape of animals, vehicles, etc. are used to represent the preferences, or dreams of the deceased. In addition, perfectly choreographed dances transform funerals into colorful and energetic celebrations. For more than twenty years, Regula Tschumi, who holds a doctorate in ethnology, has researched and photographed the Ghanaian funeral cult. Her astonishing, vibrantly colorful images depict Christian and traditional funeral ceremonies, bizarre installations, and various forms of laying out the deceased, as well as spectacular trends in figural coffin design over the past two decades. Tschumi also accompanied and photographed the undertaker and pallbearer Benjamin Aidoo (known as "Ghana’s Coffin Dancer"), who has become world famous through social media.