The Corpse Statue

After chicken and rice for breakfast - Eric, Elias and I make our way to the small village Gomoa Eskuma to attend the funeral of Nana Mpamaprom.  The village is out in full at 8:30 in the morning to remember the life of the village's chief.  We meet Ofosu, the son of Nana Mpamaprom, who explains that I am free to photograph and make my way around the village as I wish and instructs me to say "I am friends with Ofosu" if anyone questions what I am doing there.  I then meet Ofosu's sister, who lives in New Jersey and made the journey back to her hometown for her father's funeral.  I then head out on my own, where for hours on end I have my camera out and am snapping away.  All children are itching to have their picture taken.  As for the adults, I get their attention and raise my camera slightly before either given a nod of approval or a please-leave-me-alone stare.  I soon get so caught up in my own little paradise that I forget about the funeral festivities.

ABOVE: A group of drummers and music makers make their way down the street

The sound of drumming catches my attention and I realize the funeral is about to get started.  A large crowd starts to gather wearing ceremonial robes, a man grabs my arm and tells me to get in the line behind him.  Hesitantly I follow his lead and soon find myself in the palace courtyard where the viewing of the body is about take place.  The mood is very jovial.  A character who reminds me of a court jester grabs my attention.  We stare each other down, one foot between noses.  It takes me a second to realize that I am in a staring contest.  After 20 seconds the crowd of people starts to laugh and cheer.  I have a hard time not laughing myself as I stare past the eyes of my opponent.  I finally give in and the victor slams his wooden bat on the ground in celebration.  I get back in line.

ABOVE: The line of people entering the court of the palace

BELOW: The winner of the staring contest

As we move through a narrow hallway I soon realize that I am about to enter the room to view the body of the deceased.  I don't know exactly how I am supposed to act or behave but am soon motioned to start taking photos of the body.  So I do. We pass by the body briefly then exit the room and enter onto the street.   I look down and a man is wiping the blood of a freshly slaughtered sheep onto everyone's feet as they pass by.   

ABOVE:  Sheeps Blood is smeared on the feet of all who exit the visitation room

I meet back up with Elias and Eric to find out what is going to happen next so I can get in the best position for photographing the funeral procession.  But this funeral is foreign to both Eric and Elias because this funeral is outside Accra and therefore the custom are very different.  Elias heads off to find Ofosu to figure out how the rest of funeral will proceed.   

Eric had explained and showed me pictures of how design coffins are paraded around the town for all to see in a big celebration march before the actual burial takes place.  So this is what we all expected to see at this funeral.  

Elias arrives back to explain that this funeral is going to be very different than what we expected.  The village will gather and celebrate the life of the chief, but in a different fashion than parading the coffin around.  Only close family are allowed to be present at the burial since the deceased is the chief.  Only the family would see the coffin.  Only the family would see the body. . . Except I just saw the body with several hundred other people.  Elias then explains that the corpse in the visitation room was not the chief.  It was a statue of the chief.  A corpse statue.

BELOW: The Corpse statue of Nana Mpamaprom