arts & entertainment
photo by owen wal
Gem of the Ocean
Ghanaian ‘Fantasy Coffin Maker’
lectures at Catlin Gabel School
Vin Shambry and Brenda Phillips in August Wilson’s ‘Gem of the Ocean,’
held over through Nov. 6 due to rave reviews. The play is the first
installment of Wilson’s “Pittburgh Cycle,” which includes “Fences” and
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” “Mythic in its proportions this play travels to
1904 when slavery was a living memory and African Americans were
searching for a new life within the uncertain meaning of freedom.” New
shows are Nov. 3-6, Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m.,Saturday and
Sunday at 2 p.m., at the World Trade Center, 121 SW Salmon St. For
tickets call 503-488-5822 or visit www.portlandplayhouse.org.
E
ric Adjetey Anang, a 27-
year-old fantasy coffin
sculptor from Ghana, will
give a slide lecture on Monday,
Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the
Gerlinger Auditorium at Catlin
Gabel School, 8825 SW Barnes
Rd. Anang discusses the history
of Ghana’s Kane Kwei
Carpentry Workshop, and show
slides illustrating the process of
building his sculptures. The
slide lecture is free and open to
the public.The artist will also be
in Portland for residencies at
Catlin Gabel School that week,
following work at the Oregon
College of Art and Craft, Oct.
31-Nov. 4.
Anang runs the Kwei
Carpentry Workshop in Ghana,
which was started by his grand-
father in the early 1950s. The
coffins are sculpted into forms
such as boats, cars, musical
instruments, tools, or animals to
describe or honor their deceased
elders, and have been recognized
worldwide.
Anang began working in his
grandfather’s shop at age 8, and
he began running the shop seven
years ago. His work has been
shown in Belgium, and is in the
permanent collection of the
Royal Ontario Museum in
Toronto, Canada, as well as in
private collections around the world.
The artist’s recent travels include a trip in
August 2011 to Novosibirsk,
Russia, where he made two fantasy
Eric Adjetey Anang
The coffins are sculpted into
forms such as boats, cars, or
musical instruments, to
describe or honor deceased
elders
page 6 The Portland Skanner october 26, 2011
coffins for the Novosibirsk Cultural
Museum. He was an invited guest in
September 2011 at the Gwangju Design
Biennale in South Korea. For info go to
www.catlin.edu.