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Proposal for Exhibition of Wooden Boats of Bengal

A culture sewn into the fabric of life in Bengal

Presented by Friendship

To

The Islington City Council

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Table of Contents Friendship ............................................................................................................................................... 3

Proposal on Exhibition of Wooden Boats of Bangladesh ................................................................... 3

Introduction to Friendship .................................................................................................................. 3

Cultural Preservation Sector ................................................................................................................... 5

Vision of Friendship’s Cultural Preservation Sector ............................................................................ 9

Proposal for Exhibition ............................................................................................................................ 9

About the Exhibition ......................................................................................................................... 10

Visual Presentations for Visitors ................................................................................................... 10

Live Art Exhibitions............................................................................................................................ 11

Purpose of the Exhibition .............................................................................................................. 11

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Planning the Live Art Exhibition .................................................................................................... 12

Views of the Boats ................................................................................................................................ 13

Target Audience ............................................................................................................................ 15

Timing ............................................................................................................................................ 16

Links to Friendship’s Work in Cultural Preservation ......................................................................... 17

Past Exhibitions ..................................................................................................................................... 18

Future Plans .......................................................................................................................................... 19

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Friendship

Proposal on Exhibition of Wooden Boats of Bangladesh

Introduction to Friendship

Commencing operations in 2002, Friendship Bangladesh is a value-based organization with interventions based on compassion, in-depth knowledge of its working area, empathy and grassroots experience, intertwined with the usage of modern technology and innovative approaches towards solving the problems plaguing its beneficiaries. Friendship’s relationship with its beneficiaries is built on love and respect which in turn gains a level of confidence with the people thereby allowing Friendship to build a chain of effective and efficient services. Friendship aims to provide integrated and result-oriented developmental solutions to its beneficiaries. With the idea that no other development intervention is sustainable when basic needs are not met, Friendship has demonstrated skill in the implementation of integrated models, including primary and secondary health care, education, adult literacy, and income generating activities that help its beneficiaries build a better future on their own capacities.

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The overarching goal of Friendship is to help eradicate impediments for disadvantaged communities to regain the innate dignity of their people and to self-realise their true potentials. However, Friendship works with the knowledge that no development is truly sustainable or effective unless the solution provided is sustainable, relevant and true to the roots of the people. Friendship now serves the developmental aims of the most deprived communities of Bangladesh through six integrated and holistic sectors: Health, Education, Good Governance, Sustainable Economic Development, Disaster Management and Infrastructure Development and Cultural Preservation.

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Cultural Preservation Sector

Bangladesh is the most densely populated deltaic plane in the world and is the country

of a thousand rivers. These rivers once dominated the lives and livelihoods of the people

and still continue to do so to a large extent. Boats, the art of building them and

traditions surrounding water-based communications have always been deeply rooted in

the socio-cultural considerations in the area. The country boasted the largest fleet of

wooden riverine boats and the art of making the boats is an ancient craft, passed on

from one generation to the next by word of mouth. While the sea boats in the Bay of

Bengal reflected foreign influences in design, the boats navigating through the river

waters inland remained free from influence. The fleet of Bangladeshi riverine boats is

the largest in the world, approaching a million!

The twentieth century saw the emergence of two big technical “revolutions” that

altered the riverscape of Bangladesh from one of colourful sails and proud masts to one

of noise and pollution, barren from a lack of sails and colours.

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These changes have nearly ended a rich heritage and technological artistry of

Bangladesh. While from an economic and efficiency view-point, these motorised boats

make sense in terms of terms of speed and viability, the disappearance of this ancient

technology would amount to an inestimable and irreparable loss.

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Friendship’s work in preservation is done, in part, through the creation of perfectly accurate miniature versions of the boats, which then go on exhibition, both nationally and internationally thereby allowing people from all backgrounds a chance to view these works of art. The organisation has recruited the last of the master craftsmen who belongs to the long and proud line of boat artisans to make these boats. As they are preserving this important heritage, they are also training the next generation of carpenters. Following the original exhibitions in Bangladesh and France, Runa Khan, founder and Executive Director of Friendship, was accorded the Award of the Rolex Foundation on 26th November 2006 for her work in the promotion of preserving this heritage. The disappearance of these beautiful sailing boats from her riverine country prompted the finding of skilled artisans to revive one of the oldest traditions of Bangladesh. With The award made it possible to ensure the restoration of over 70 varieties of boats, provided employment to many craftsmen and brought pride and tourism revenues for the nation.

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“These river boats deserve, more than anything else at present, urgent attention and

development. The skills of the boat-building artisans are disappearing, and must be

saved.”- Annie Montigny research director, Museum national d’Histoire Naturelle,

Paris

“The technical skills and know-how required for the construction of these wooden boats

and the rich heritage that the craftsmen produced over the centuries are irreplaceable

treasures”.- Tommy Koh ambassador-at-large for the Government of Singapore

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Vision of Friendship’s Cultural Preservation Sector

The vision of the Cultural Preservation Sector is to preserve cultures that are instrumental to a community’s identity, giving them hope and dignity as part of Friendship’s work in holistic development.

Proposal for Exhibition

Friendship works in promoting the work of these artisans by holding a traveling exhibition throughout the world. The exhibition will showcase the materials that were traditionally transported by these boats in real life along with the technically perfect model boats. The jute, rope, bamboo and cartons of tea gives a sense of day-to-day activities on these boats, while running documentaries of the boats tells visitors the stories and histories of the boats and the boat people. This exhibition on the traditional boats of Bangladesh is organised with the intent to promote and highlight the rich cultural heritage of the boats of Bangladesh.

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About the Exhibition

The exhibition will showcase several life-sized boats with over 70 different types of

traditional model boats that are handcrafted maintaining every single feature and

detail of each type of boats, all the while depicting the daily lives surrounding the

boats. Every stage and technique of building these boats have been documented so

that future generations may refer to this data, thereby never losing the technical

knowhow of this craft. The re-creation of these traditional boats have also helped

conserve the livelihood of the families involved in the art and ritual of boat building

that is nearly lost. Exhibitions arranged could take two varying forms:

Visual Presentations for Visitors

These exhibitions take a more traditional form where the visitors are greeted with

over 72 varieties of model boats. These model boats are perfect to the last detail and

give visitors an idea of the artistry lying behind every model. The walk through

history is enhanced by the presence of various goods that were once carried on and

transported through these boats. These visual presentations could be displayed in a

variety of ways as well, including that of installation art. The installations could

transport the visitor through the timelines of the boats, from the days of the gentle

splashing of the boats through the waters of Bengal to the modern age, where the

rivers are polluted by the harsh, grating noise of the engines. A separate installation

could visualise for the visitors the craftsmanship lying behind the boats and can tell

them the poignant stories of the artisans.

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Live Art Exhibitions

Purpose of the Exhibition

The purpose of our proposed “live art” exhibition is to create awareness of a millennial old craft from the “Land of a Thousand Rivers”. It is to bring communities from England and Bangladesh together in seeing boat building technology to which there are only iconographic references in Nordic Literature. Boat building is an art both loved by and part of the heritage of each community.

It is also to disseminate the knowledge and see the beauty of the creation of a smooth skinned boat by the last remaining builders of such boats in the world. These carpenters are the last remaining generation of carpenters of the world having the technical skills to construct these kinds of boats, skills which have been passed from generation to generation by word of mouth only.. Friendship has started documentation and preservation of this knowledge, whose loss would be a loss for humanity and like many old boat technologies this too will die out of the world knowledge pool. To share the unique model of construction of these boats, the “Live Art” performance will be a platform to show the beauty and heritage of this particular type of boat building to an English community which has been in the forefront of world boat building and also to share this with the ethnic community of origin in the Sub- continent, for whom it is part of their heritage.

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A “Live Art” Exhibition is proposed for the Islington Green because of the United

Kingdom’s enthusiasm in all forms of maritime culture. This show will allow

audiences to interact with craftsmen who will be showcasing the complete creation

of a scale example of a genuine boat, along with finding out about a skill and style of

making wooden boats that are completely unique to the rivers of Bangladesh.

Planning the Live Art Exhibition

Exhibition team: 3 carpenters and 3 members of Friendship Head Office to organise and manage the exhibition. Length of the boat: 20 feet Materials required (transported from Bangladesh): Boat building materials Materials required (from Islington City Council): Transport and logistics to transfer the completed boat to the (Regent’s Canal) canal, space to build the boat (50sqft-100sqft), permits regarding building, sound and one open flame (small fire to heat the wood in order to bend it), permits to make a few holes in the ground to insert levers to bend the planks, permit to build a marquee/ canopy to cover and protect the boat when building it especially on rainy days. Level of noise: Relatively quiet the first 3 days, normal to medium levels of consistent carpentry noise (mostly hammering and sawing) the next 11 days, quiet the last 2 days. Size of final product: The boat would be 20 feet in length. The mast would be 15 feet in height (this can be erected whilst on canal to make transportation easier) and the sails would be 12 feet in width. Optional: a secondary tent for displaying some boats and materials

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Views of the Boats

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Target Audience

General- this exhibition would appeal to both boat aficionados and the general

public- appealing to the tastes of historical and modern works of art. Previous

exhibitions of these boats- of the most relevant to this proposal being the Setouchi

Triennale in Japan- have drawn in people from all walks of life, from all age groups.

The documented number of visitors on Bengal Island (and our exhibition) was

34,884, although the real numbers are higher. This irresistible look into the past and

how it still functions in the present was highly acclaimed, both by laypersons and

boat aficionados. (Refer to the Setouchi Triennale Report 2013)

Target audience would this be the British Community who love boats and the

Bangladeshi and Subcontinental people for whom this is their heritage.

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Timing

Organising and shipping building materials from Bangladesh: 3 weeks. An additional

1.5 weeks may be required for spraying of the materials.

Time for Visa application process: 1 month. Set of documents required from the

Council as per the rules of visa application.

Shipping time: 1.5 months to max 2 months

Construction of the boat: 15 days. Construction time of the boat itself. Set up time

not included in this.

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Links to Friendship’s Work in Cultural Preservation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZglGXX4Z99I

http://setouchiexplorer.com/bangladeshi-dinghy-launch-takamatsu/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOiPgV5pboY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4da4kVJdYM&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3-ytYz4P04&feature=related

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2004_10_jewels_starmagazine_cul.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2006_12_boat-sister_new-age_culsed.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2006_12_boat_appropiate-technology_cul.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2006_12_rolex_star_cul.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2007_02_boatwoman_femina.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2008_08_runa_rolex-award_cul.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2010_04_elle_vivre-plusmagazine_cul.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2010_04_an-exhibition_bangladesh-monitor_cul.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2010_07_le-ccrn_dienstag_cul.pdf

https://friendshipngo.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/2010_04_naw_kaler-kantha_cul.pdf

http://www.friendship-bd.org/news/view/friendship-participated-in-setouchi-triennale-2013-172

http://www.friendship-bd.org/news/view/friendship-participates-in-an-arts-and-crafts-fair-in-national-

museum-177

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Past Exhibitions

The travelling exhibition is an on-going one, highlighting Friendship’s work in Cultural

Preservation, both home and abroad and is now showcasing over 70 varieties of boats.

The boats are handcrafted by our resident artisans and are perfect in replication to the

last feature. This exhibition works towards raising awareness both locally and

internationally on the majesty of this ancient fleet. If we do not do work to preserve this

today, there will be no tomorrow for the future of this historic craft. The loss of this

unique technology, found only in the rivers of Bengal, will be a loss for the human race.

Exhibitions to Date

1. Bengal Gallery, Dhaka 2004

2. Bangladesh National Museum, 2005

3. National Museum of Marine, Paris 2008

4. Museum of the Marine, Brest 2009

5. Salon Nautique, Port de Versailles, Paris 2009

6. Le Port Museum at Douarnenez, 2009-2011

7. Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka 2010

8. Centre Culturel de Recontre Abbaye de Neumunster (CCRN), Luxembourg 2010

9. Setouchi Triennale, 2013

10. Bangladesh National Museum, 2013

11. Asian Tourism Fair, 2014

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Future Plans

Friendship has planned out a Living Museum on the Traditional Boats of Bangladesh,

consisting of 4 different components as part of its work in Cultural Preservation. The

land for this museum has already been acquired and the organisation is now looking for

financial and technical support. The Ministry of Culture in Bangladesh has agreed,

verbally, to partially fund this museum and has lauded Friendship’s work in this arena.