A Maritime Melting Pot: Traditional Boat Building in Cyprus

Dive & Dig

Recorded live on the island of Cyprus, Professor Lucy Blue speaks to Constantinos Nicolaou a leading expert in Cypriot traditional boat building. Costantinos recently headed up a training workshop hosted by the Honor Frost Foundation’s Cyprus Regional Development Project, that brought together experts from the eastern Mediterranean region working on traditional boat recording. Costantinos directs a project that documents the remaining working boats in Cyprus and maps out different topologies and the influences that have shaped Cypriot vernacular boat building over time. Hear how by looking at this development you learn about the history of the island, including the islands independence from British colonial rule and the Turkish invasion, and how these events changed boat shape construction. Is there a boat construction history on the island? What is the legacy of boat building in Cyprus? Costantinos also reveals how his interviews with living boat builders, has further exposed their contribution to the history of vernacular boat building on the island.