Pat's Blog:2013年08月29日

The Art of Wooden Boats

2013年08月29日

August is closing, the winds are cooler, and things are ending. So is the summer and the Bengal Island show, which has been and of course still is a big part of the Setouchi Art Festival 2013. Slowly it’s drawing to a close.
http://setouchi-artfest.jp/en/
If you haven’t seen this yet, then please do, as it’s been such a wonderful event. In the beginning I had reservations about its place in a major art festival such as the Setouchi Triennale but I was wrong. Hopelessly wrong in fact. My good friend and fellow blogger Cathy Hirano wizened me up with her observations and excellent blogs. Art is many faceted, so thanks Cathy!

Master boat builder, writer & researcher Douglas Brooks from the US has been building a traditional Japanese boat, which will be launched here in Takamatsu this coming weekend. The Setouchi Art site link above will have the details available about this.

www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com
Douglas told me the boat in these pictures is almost complete and just needs the small Shinto shrine installed to be finished.

The Bangladeshi craftsmen also completed a wooden boat of traditional design as a part of this festival and that boat too, had a launching in Takamatsu. These construction methods are ancient and the skills are being lost over time.

There are a disappearing group of carpenters in Japan called ‘miyadaiku’ みやだいくThe miyadaiku’s skills are legendary and they’re the ones who build and repair shrines and temples and if you’ve ever stopped to marvel at the perfection of joints, carvings etc. on shrines or temples they’re the ones that did it. Some years ago in Kyoto a group of 5 miyadaiku opened a school hoping to pass on their skills to anyone interested in learning their craft. Despite a very low tuition fee, the school had to close due to a lack of enrolments & public support.

So traditional skills are being lost and it’s great to see people like David Brooks and the Bangladeshi boat-builders getting the chance to show their art to us so fortunate to see it firsthand.