Paa Joe

Paa Joe (né Joseph Tetteh-Ashong; born 1947) is a Ghanaian sculptor, and figurative palanquin and fantasy coffin carpenter. Joe is considered one of the most important Ghanaian coffin or abebuu adekai (“proverb boxes”) artists of his generation. He has been involved in the international art world since 1989, and has been included in major exhibitions in Europe, Japan, and the USA. His fantasy coffins are in the collections and on permanent display in many art museums worldwide, including the British Museum in London, the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka and many others as well as the private collections of foreign dignitaries. In 1976, Joe started his own business in Nungua. He trained many young artists like Daniel Mensah, Eric Kpakpo, and Kudjoe Affutu who have also become very successful coffin artists. In 2008, Joe moved his workshop from Nungua to Pobiman (Greater Accra) where he worked with his son Jacob and several other collaborators. In 2013, Joe was invited for a six-week residency to Nottingham, Great Britain and he has taken part in many art residences. Now, Paa Joe is retired and his son Jacob has taken over the business of his father.

Artwork A coffin by Paa Joe exhibited at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan.

Figurative coffins While the pieces crafted by Joe are real coffins that the deceased are buried in, the process to obtain a figurative coffin is very different from the normal process one might go about to obtain a coffin for themselves or a loved one. While the practice of making Figurative coffins was debatably started by Joe's instructor, Kane Kwei, the concept has deep roots in Ga tradition. Figurative coffins have been around since the 1950s.

Exhibitions In 2020, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia exhibited new work by Joe of Gold Coast fortresses. 2017 Fondation Cartier Paris 2012 Brooklyn Museum 2011 Salon 94 New York 2011 Jack Bell Gallery, UK 2011 V&A museum UK 2010–11 "Living and Dying Gallery" British Museum London 2007–2008 Six Feet Under, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden 2006 Melbourne Festival 2006 Six Feet Under, Kunstmuseum Bern 2005 Jack Shainman Gallery, New York City 2003 Schokolade, die süsse Verführung, Museum für Völkerkunde Basel 2002 Autolust, Stapferhaus Lenzburg, Switzerland 1989 Les Magiciens de la terre, Centre Pompidou, Paris