Traditional skills of building and sailing Iranian Lenj…Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Urgent Safeguarding List 2011
EN: Loft Port- Bādebān-Kashi Ceremony. Until 30 years ago, whenever a sailing Lenj was about to go on a long journey, the sail was hoisted in a special ceremony accompanied by music. Nowadays this ceremony is performed on special occasions.
EN: Kong- In old times, a person named Moallem (teacher) worked on Lenjes with the special duty to determine the location of the lenj on the sea, using this device. Nowadays this device is no longer used. The photo is taken in Ebrahimi Memorial House.
EN: Salakh Village- Women sitting on the shore of the Persian Gulf on the day of Nowruz-e-Sayyād. On this day which is the beginning of the sailing year, fishermen don’t go fishing, celebrating the day with their family.
EN: Qeshm Island- Shrimping in the Persian Gulf. Fishing is still one of the premier sources of income for people on the coast of the Persian Gulf and the ability to guide the fishing ships is one of the special skills of the sailors.
EN: Loft Port- Rezif Khāni Ceremony. In this ritual, sailors sing and dance together. The songs tell the story of sailors and dangers of the voyage on the sea. Daf, Dohol and Damam are the instruments used in this ceremony.
EN: Bushehr-Despite the presence of big industrial ships in Persian Gulf, people here still uses the handmade Lenjes to fish and trade.
EN: Gourān- Lenj-building workshop. With modern ship-making technologies, wooden Lenj workshops have become rare on the coast of the Persian Gulf.
EN: Qeshm- Lenj-Repairing workshop. These workshops are rarely found here. Sailors rarely have the money to fix their wooden Lenjes and this leads to gradual extinction of the Lenjes.
EN: Qeshm- Ghammāre, Captain’s cabin. Little by little, captions are being equipped with modern devices. GPS and cell phones replace the traditional knowledge and devices for sailing and the wooden room of the captain won’t be no more survive.
EN: Salakh Village- The Shushî ceremony is the permanent part of Nowruz-e-Sayyād. The characters of this show are inspired by the nature and they use palm branches for the hats, palm leaf for the hands and palm skin for the beard. Two men are covering themselves with cotton to resemble camels.
