After Greece placed strict prohibitions on fishing in an effort to reduce overfishing in the Aegean, the Ministry of Culture and Sports is implementing a comprehensive and sustainable plan for the preservation of carpentry and traditional boats, or Kaiki.
As part of a teleconference with the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, announced the creation of a Vocational Training and Apprenticeship Program in Carpentry.
The project will also enjoy the participation of Prof. Andreas Papasalouros, the President of the Department of Mathematics of the University of the Aegean; Dr. Costas Damianidis, a researcher of the History of Carpentry; and Willy Fotopoulou, the head of the Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage of Greece.
One of the factors that has seriously threatened the ancient art of boatbuilding in Greece is the reactivation of vessel destruction measures as part of European Union policies to reduce the number of professional fishermen, part of what it believed is the prudent management of fish stocks.
In the last 25 years alone, about 11,000 of these iconic Greek kaiki vessels have been lost, many of which were monuments of the country’s ancient tradition of shipbuilding. The Ministry of Culture — to the extent that it can — constantly attempts to rescue some of the most traditional vessels, in particular those that are living evidence of this great shipbuilding tradition.
As Mendoni stated on Monday, “The preservation of the valuable knowledge of carpentry imposes its protection but also its promotion in the modern educational, economic and social environment.
“The new apprenticeship structure will contribute to the preservation and promotion of the art of carpentry, to the creation of new jobs, specialized staff, to the social and economic development of local communities,” she added. In some areas, it will also be possible to create thematic Cultural Routes including Greek boatyards, she noted.
“The rescue of the art and tradition of carpentry and its rebirth in a modernizing context is directly intertwined with the cultural identity of a naval nation, such as the Greek. For millennia, wooden boats have been associated with all the great moments of a seafaring people with a unique tradition in the seafaring, shipbuilding and nautical arts,” Mendoni stated.
Boatbuilding is one of Greece’s oldest traditions. Guided by a drive to preserve it for posterity, the Ministry of Culture and Sports included boat carpentry in the National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013.
Fisherman Petros Tzevelekos’ beloved boat was one of about 13,000 kaikia which have been deliberately destroyed since 1994, after a European Union directive called for the demolition of the small wooden fishing boats which Greek fishermen have used for untold centuries.
The directive, which aims at putting a stop to overfishing in the Mediterranean, applies to other Mediterranean countries as well.
The European Commission law calls for Greek fishermen to give up their fishing boats and licenses in exchange of a few thousand euros as compensation.
However, the papers allowing the compensation must be signed at the very moment the boat is destroyed, which means that the owner must be present during the “cutting.” This anthropomorphic term is the word the fishermen use when their beloved kaiki is broken to pieces by a bulldozer.
“I had my kaiki for forty tears,” Tzevelekos told Greek Reporter in a recent interview before Monday’s announcement. “The money we got was very little, since its was a small boat. I felt very bad when they cut it… I feel sad for losing it.”
“I didn’t do it because I was forced, though. I’m 75 now, I can’t work. But I will continue to fish. I’ll find a small boat to fish for myself,” he stresses.
In addition to the incalculable damage to the many Greeks who make a living by fishing, the EU directive also threatens the centuries-long traditional craft of boatbuilding. Building a wooden fishing boat requires exceptional craftmanship and knowledge of the qualities of various wood types as well.
Greece has a long and proud heritage in kaiki building. The construction of such a vessel requires natural timber, special design and construction techniques and equipment, and then decorating according to specific cultural practices.
The technique of kaiki building and maintenance has naturally passed down from generation to generation since ancient times. But as the years go by, the tradition fades. The destroyed kaikia will not be replaced.
But a new day is thankfully dawning now in Greece, as the government takes this enormous step in the preservation of the iconic Greek craft, the building of the kaiki, so that the skills needed to create these graceful wooden boats will never be forgotten and lost to history.
GreekReporter.com