If weddings are the most lavish events in many parts of the world, in Sub-Saharan Africa, by contrast, it is funerals. Funeral celebrations can be flamboyant occasions, particularly those honoring prominent people. Artworks of many kinds are created to commemorate the dead from mortuary sculptures and extravagant coffins to elaborate headstones, memorials, monuments, and cenotaphs.

This book is a unique survey of the artful nature of funerals in Africa. Drawing on a wide range of historical, anthropological, archaeological, art historical, and literary sources, John Mack charts the full range of African funereal art, highlighting examples from across the continent and from ancient times to today. Featuring abundant illustrations—some of which have never been published before—The Artfulness of Death in Africa is essential reading for those interested in African art, culture, society, and history.

John Mack is professor of world art studies in the Sainsbury Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. His many books include The Museum of the Mind: Art and Memory in World Cultures, The Art of Small Things, and The Sea: A Cultural History, the last also published by Reaktion Books.

— John Picton, SOAS University of London

— Choice

— Will Rea, senior lecturer, School of Fine Arts, Leeds

— Gus Casely-Hayford, director, V&A East (UK), former director, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art

— Timothy Insoll, Al-Qasimi Professor of African and Islamic Archaeology, University of Exeter

— Morning Star

— Journal of Folklore Research