Eric Adjetey Anang
Eric Adjetey Anang (Eric Adjetey Anang - prononciation.ogg) is a Ghanaian sculptor and fantasy coffin carpenter. He was born in Teshie, Ghana and runs the Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop. He currently maintains dual residency and splits his time between Ghana and Madison, Wisconsin, where he is pursuing unique projects.
Eric Adjetey Anang
Ekpene · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Eric Adjetey Anang
- Birthplace
- Teshie, Accra
- Known for
- Sculpture, design
- Born
- 1985 · Accra.
- Nationality
- Ghana
- Occupation
- sculptor
- Education
- Accra Academy
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Eric Adjetey Anang (Eric Adjetey Anang - prononciation.ogg) is a Ghanaian sculptor and fantasy coffin carpenter. He was born in Teshie, Ghana and runs the Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop. He currently maintains dual residency and splits his time between Ghana and Madison, Wisconsin, where he is pursuing unique projects.
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q559477 · wikipedia · Eric Adjetey Anang
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Eric Adjetey Anang • Birthplace — Teshie, Accra • Known for — Sculpture, design • Website — http: kanekwei.com • Illustration — Limo coffin, by Eric Adjetey Anang, 2014 • Illustration — Spider Coffin, Eric Adjetey Anang
Early life and education
Early life and education
In 2001, he introduced Ghana design coffins at Gidan Makama Museum Kano, Nigeria, under the auspices of Alliance française in Kano. He completed his secondary school at the Accra Academy.
Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop
Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop
Adjetey Anang explained in an interview that the fantasy coffin idea began when his grandfather was building a palanquin for a chief, but the chief died before he could ride in it and the family decided he should instead be buried in it. In 2005 he took over the management of the studio that was established by Seth Kane Kwei, motivated by the ambition to "rise the name of his grand-father and see the world". Within a short time, Adjetey Anang became one of Ghana's leading contemporary artists and an internationally known coffin maker. • Illustration — Eric Adjetey Anang during an interview for Danish TV. He is commenting on coffins commissioned for Images Festival 2013. In January 2010, Adjetey Anang took part in the photographic project Please, do not move! with the French photographer Guy Hersant. At the end of the same year, he was invited to the Black World Festival in Dakar as representative of designers from Ghana.
Art in the United States
Art in the United States
In 2009, Adjetey Anang organized for Oregon College of Art & Craft's Senior Lecturer Michael de Forest to come to Ghana for a two-month artist residency. At the 2019 Furniture Society Conference held at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Adjetey Anang and Michael de Forest were conference speakers and gave a presentation titled "Research as Adventure: Scratching the Itch of Curiosity Until It Smacks You in the Face". Adjetey Anang also gave coffin-making demonstrations showing the process of using hand tools to make hollow, curved, wooden sculptures. Adjetey Anang has participated in dozen of artist residencies and workshops worldwide. In 2014, he was a Resident Fellow through the Windgate ITE International Residency at the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia, PA. He is the 2019-2020 Thurber Park Artist-in-Resident, put together through the Madison Arts Commission and the Bubbler at Madison Public Library in Madison, Wisconsin. He held a solo exhibition at the University of Arkansas Little Rock Windgate Center for Art + Design in 2020 titled Celebrating Death: Fantasy Coffins of Ghana by Eric Adjetey Anang. This exhibition showcased Adjetey Anang's fantasy coffins ranging from a giant hot pepper or a wing-tipped shoe.
Academics
Academics
Eric Adjetey Anang is also involved in anthropological research related to Ga people with Roberta Bonetti, an affiliate professor in History of Anthropology at University of Bologna and Fellow at Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Columbia University.
Recognition
Recognition
In 2009, Adjetey Anang was featured in a television commercial for the energy drink Aquarius., who wanted to tell stories of real and incredible people. The commercial told the story of Adjetey Anang and the coffin making business, and included over 300 local cast members in a fishing village called Teshie, in Accra, Ghana. WPT/Wisconsin Life aired a segment in 2018 called Coffin Life about Adjetey Anang and his work, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement for Magazine Programming - Segment at the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.

Eric Adjetey Anang in Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop. Teshie, Ghana. 2009
Jean-Michel Rousset
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q559477: Eric Adjetey Anang
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Eric Adjetey Anang”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Awards and honors
At the age of 24, Eric Adjetey Anang was acknowledged as "a model for African urban youths" by the French newspaper Le Monde diplomatique.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Faller, Angelita. New UA Little Rock art exhibits feature coffins from Ghana, contemporary British ceramics, and permanent collection. News. 2020-01-13.
- 2.Celebrating Death: Fantasy Coffins of Ghana by Eric Adjetey Anang. Arkansas Times.
- 3.culturebase.net. Kane Kwei artist portrait.
- 4.Bonetti, Roberta. Histoire de l'art et anthropol. - Abebuu adekai chez les Ga du G. - Roberta Bonetti - Musée du quai Branly (département de la recherche et de l'enseignement). Les Actes de Colloques du Musée du Quai Branly. Actesbranly.revues.org. 1. 2009-07-28. 10.4000/actesbranly.227.
- 5.14/15 LECTURE SERIES. MFA Applied Craft + Design.
- 6.L'artiste ghanéen Eric Anang expose ses cercueils de fantaisie à Dakar. panapress.com.
- 7.Michael deForest. Apprentice Coffin Maker. Michaeldeforeststudio.blogspot.com.
- 8.michaeldeforeststudio.com.
- 9.Eric Adjetey Anang – The Furniture Society.
- 10.Building Hollow Sculpture Coffins – The Furniture Society.
- 11.allTURNatives: Form + Spirit 2014. The Center for Art in Wood.
- 12.Eric Adjetey Anang Chosen for Community-Based Artist Residency in Thurber Park. www.cityofmadison.com. October 17, 2019.
- 13.Celebrating Death: Fantasy Coffins of Ghana by Eric Adjetey Anang. Department of Art and Design.
- 14.Unibo.it. Roberta Bonetti. 2012-08-21.
- 15.Archived copy.
- 16.Blog.mondediplo.net. Le Monde Diplo. 2009-10-30.
- 17.Storyboard Aquarius
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q559477: Eric Adjetey AnangWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
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This entry is compiled from 2 catalogued sources across 2 independent registers. The registers consulted are Wikipedia and Wikimedia Foundation. Every statement above is held against the register that stated it; where the registers are silent, the entry is silent.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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