Easter Island heads Paa Joe and the Circle of Life

A quick visit to the  British Museum turned some beautiful treasures from the far flung corners of the world.  Seeing these things is always a mix of pleasure and pain........I would much prefer to see them where they belong, in their country of origin but that decision is unfortunately out of my hands.

So while I cant change the world I thought I would share some highlights with you.

Easter Island heads

I have always loved the imagery of  Day of the Dead. They had an amazing piece called the circle of life in the museum. I cant find an image of it anywhere which is a huge shame. So i thought i would show you some of there sculptures instead. The one at the top shows the elements of destruction in the world and is HUGE.

I also discovered they have some of Paa Joe's coffins on display. It was good to see them in the flesh. I look forward to seeing more of them when i go and visit Kumasi, Ghana next year.

When I die bury me in an oversized sewing machine

There is a tradition in certain areas of Ghana for the dead to be buried in a huge carving of the thing they most loved in life or a representation of their profession. There is pretty much a coffin perfectly made for every thing you could imagine. If you had to chose what would be the one thing that sums up you life so far? tough question eh?well i guess mine would have to be a huge sewing machine...... 

I looked it up thinking there is no way such a thing would exist but low and behold here it is......