Born in 1947 in the Akwapim Hills, within the outskirts of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, Paa Joe belongs to the Ga-Adangbe. In 1960, at the age of 16, Paa Joe started a ten-year apprenticeship with his uncle Seth Kane Kwei at Kwei’s woodshop in Teshie. By 1977 Paa Joe opened his own business in Nungua. In 1989, he participated in “Les Magiciens de la terre,” a group exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Known world-wide for his extraordinary craft, he’s taken part in numerous major exhibitions in Europe, Japan and the United States. His coffins are on permanent display at the British Museum in London, the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada, and the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Group exhibitions in the US have included Jack Shainman, UTA, Evergold Project, and the American Folk Art Museum.