The most important celebration in life
Guest post: In West African Ghana, people are “Buried in style.”
Celebrate death as we celebrate life: This is the credo of the Ghanaian ethnic group Ga-Adangme. This has given rise to a unique coffin and funeral culture. Volker Seitz on a colorful photo book.
In the Ghanaian Ga culture, death is not viewed as the end of life. Rather, it is seen as a transition to another form of existence, in which the deceased remain part of the community as ancestors. The funeral is therefore not only a farewell, but also a colorful celebration that honors the life of the deceased and celebrates their return to the spiritual world. The Ga began this tradition after the introduction of the coffin requirement.
This ethnic group lives in the coastal region of Greater Accra, in Togo, and in Benin (where I first saw such coffins) and is considered the inventor of the extraordinarily imaginative coffins (“Fantasy Coffins”). They popularized the phenomenon. The coffins have achieved such popularity that they are now used and manufactured in other regions of Ghana and by other ethnic groups.
The Swiss ethnologist and art historian Regula Tschumi lives in Switzerland and Ghana, photographed the public funeral ceremonies and commented on them impressively with humor and lightness in her book “Buried in Style” (Kehrer Verlag, 2025).
The funeral always takes place over a weekend to allow for many guests to attend. The more mourners attend a funeral, the higher the family's reputation, and the more people contribute to the high costs. It is often held several weeks after the death so that a specific, personalized coffin can be made. During this time, the deceased is placed in a cold storage facility. Saying goodbye to a loved one is staged as a joyful celebration. The focus here is on coffins designed so unusually and imaginatively that they tell stories. They not only commemorate the life of the deceased but also celebrate it. If the family buries a car mechanic in a coffin shaped like an expensive truck, for example, their career in the afterlife is secured. According to their beliefs, life in the afterlife continues and is not too different from life on earth. Since ancestors watch over their families on earth, the coffin is also a type of offering. Although most Ghanaians are Christians, they have a very traditional relationship with their ancestors and nature religions.
The higher the social rank of the deceased, the larger the coffin, as a status symbol, usually becomes. The celebrations sometimes last a whole week until the actual burial. Relatives, friends, and neighbors must be treated to a meal every evening. Those who can arrange to hire live music – there is dancing, always punctuated by singing and wailing – and have the funeral filmed. Guests are given a uniform piece of fabric so they can have a garment sewn for the ceremony.
The first artfully designed coffins were created around 75 years ago. Since according to their belief, earthly life continues in the afterlife, coffins often serve as a reminder of past professions or unfulfilled wishes. A soccer player who wanted to emigrate to the USA his entire life embarks on his final journey wearing a sneaker bearing the colors of the American flag. A village elder who dreamed of flying but never sat in an airplane will be allowed to take his final journey in a coffin shaped like a Ghana International Airline plane.
Ghana's coffins in Europe's galleries
Ghanaian coffin art has increasingly attracted international attention. Museums and galleries around the world have exhibited these works, including the British Museum in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Sepulchral Culture in Kassel, Germany, as well as the Kunstmuseum Bern, and the Musée d'Ethnographie Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
The coffins are celebrated not only as artifacts of a vibrant funerary culture, but also as modern works of art. They were promoted by colonialism and the missionaries who introduced burial in traditional wooden coffins. A hundred years ago, burial in coffins played no role in Ghana; the deceased were simply buried in the floor of the house. However, after the introduction of mandatory coffins, a shift from the box-shaped to the figurative coffin soon began. This gave rise to a tradition and funerary culture that is not only an expression of optimism and creativity, but also demands artistic sensitivity. Humor is a part of life. Even in the face of death there remains room for joy in life and sincerity.
African Solutions
Most churches oppose these extravagant coffins. With few exceptions, the figurative coffins are not allowed to be brought into the church for services, even if a prominent church member receives one shaped like an open Bible. The typical African solution is for the pastor to deliver his sermon outdoors in front of the family home. The eagle is one of the few symbols permitted by churches for figurative coffins. This coffin, which serves as the final resting place of a high-ranking cleric, is also depicted in the book.
If a Muslim family wishes to honor a deceased loved one in a special way with a figurative coffin, an African compromise must be reached. According to Islamic rules, Muslims must be buried in shrouds. But in Africa, as I have experienced, every rule can be circumvented. Muslims circumvent the religious rule by placing the deceased in a coffin, taking it out again at the cemetery and burying it there in a white cloth.
At the burials of kings, priests, priestesses, and other members of the so-called traditional society, the rules and rituals of the religious cult group play a role. In their sequence, traditional burials correspond to the rites undergone by the deceased at their inauguration. A village king is carried to the grave on a golden stool (as a symbol of power).
In recent years, a new trend has emerged in Ghanaian funeral culture. A group of young artists dances with the coffin at funerals, following a rehearsed choreography and trendy music.1 The special uniforms match the style and color of the funeral and the coffin. The dance performances also include black humor, intended to distract the mourners. They are not supposed to cry, but to rejoice and laugh. The performance is intended to encourage the relatives to celebrate a successful life and to be grateful for everything the deceased gave to the family and friends. The funeral is the most important celebration in every person's life. All other festivals can be repeated or rescheduled.
This text was first published in German on Achgut. I translated into English and added photos, video, links, the footnote and addendum.
Addendum by Volker Seitz from August 23, 2025:
As a punchline to my article, the German newspaper BILD (Image) ran the headline: "Ulli Potofski buried in soccer ball." While – unlike in Ghana – no coffin was made in the shape of a soccer ball, the sportscaster's ashes were interred in a soccer ball-shaped urn on the fan field of the soccer club Schalke 04. If the reports are to be believed, the funeral service wasn't as jolly as in Ghana. Perhaps now those who consider the customs in Ghana to be macabre will take a moment to reflect.
Volker Seitz was ambassador to Africa for the German Foreign Office for seventeen years and is the author of the bestseller Afrika wird armregiert (Africa is being governed into poverty), dtv, 11th edition 2021.
Guest posts do not automatically reflect the opinion of the blog owner.
The undertaker and pallbearer Benjamin Aidoo (known as "Ghana’s Coffin Dancer") has become world famous through social media.