Venice Bienial: For The First Time The Comoro Islands Participate

Comoros Sun 17-05-2009

Venice Bienial: For The First Time The Comoro Islands Participate
By a Correspondent

By a Correspondent

For the first time the Union of the Comoro Islands will participate in the 53rd international art exhibition - Venice Biennial presenting Djhazi, a project by Italian artist Paolo W. Tamburella.

'Venice Bienial': For The First Time The Comoro Islands Participate

The Djahazi boats have been for centuries the only means of transport for comorians, a way to communicate with the nearby countries in the Mozambique channel and to create new commercial relations.

In modern times these traditional vessels have been used to transport shipping containers from cargo boats to the capital Moroni.

In 2006, following the modernization of the port, the use of the Djahazi was prohibited, thus interrupting a longstanding tradition of comorian dockers on the islands.

In 2008 Paolo W. Tamburella travelled for the first time to comoros in the effort to understand what happened to the dockers and to their boats.

He discovered that the Djahazis had been abandoned in the port and were sinking in the water. In 2009 Tamburella went for the second time to comoros.

In a month long effort the artist and the dockers focussed on the restoration process of one of the Djahazi with the goal to ship it and presnt in the context of the la next biennale.

The Djahazi was split in half and placed in a 40ft container that is currently travelling to europe.

The Djahazi will be assembled, loaded with a shipping container to dock for all the duration of the biennale in the water at the main entrance to the Giardini.

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