Coffins for wear and consumption: Abebuu adekai as memory makers among the Ga of Ghana.

Exploring the reasons for the success and diffusion of the abebuu adekai (literally "receptacles of proverbs") among the Ga, I shall begin by focusing on the importance of the relationship between adeka and clothing. Here I will treat the coffin as an object to be worn, but also as an all-important object of remembrance. In this sense, coffin makers, like photographers and clothing designers, are also image and memory makers. Research has highlighted the importance of "wearing" abebuu adekai in various aspects of social life; thus I will also analyze the close relationship between the use of the coffin and the question of property rights. Finally, I will present the coffin as a living and acting body. The adeka seems to be a "salient object," not only because it focuses memories of the funeral around itself, but also because it has an empathetic effect as a living body in motion. In this way, the final product emerges as the result of a process of interaction between the adeka and its consumers.