Next month, Safina Projects will celebrate a decade of its pioneering 'Ark for Iraq' programme, an initiative that has preserved and revitalised Iraq’s ancient boatbuilding traditions which acted as a cornerstone for its economy and cultural identity.
From the 1980s to the 2010s, conflict, economic pressures, community displacement and environmental damage have endangered Iraq’s most distinctive boat types. Today, climate change has accelerated water scarcity, increased salinity and pollution. As a result, climate change poses the greatest threat to a cultural legacy that has, for at least six millenia, connected communities along Iraq’s waterways for trade and travel.
Launched in 2015 by artist and researcher Rashad Salim, 'Ark for Iraq' began as a speculative exhibition in London’s Edge of Arabia Art Gallery. It asked: ‘given the Mesopotamian origins of the “Noah's Ark” story - what might the Ark of the Flood have looked like?’ Art sales proceeds were invested into Salim’s fieldwork in Iraq, which uncovered that traditional boatbuilding knowledge along the Tigris-Euphrates river system was on the verge of extinction. It could only be found amongst a handful of elderly practitioners. In collaboration with Hannah Lewis, Safina Projects was established to safeguard this heritage and re-embed it into public life.
The British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund began supporting the programme in 2018 and has been crucial to sustaining and scaling the programme’s impact.
Inspired by water as a connective element, 'Ark for Iraq' aims to rebuild relationships between people, places, and traditions within Iraq and across its diaspora. The team have held steadfast that while maritime heritage suffers from the effects of climate change, it can also be a catalyst for effective action too. It is why 'Ark for Iraq' fosters civil society networks capable of responding to today’s environmental and social challenges. In recognition of this, in 2019, the then Minister of Culture Abdulameer Al-Hamdani stated that ‘This is a pioneering and invaluable project. It will be of value to academic research, tourism and the heritage sector.’
Over the past decade, 'Ark for Iraq' has become a vibrant, multi-strand initiative encompassing documentation, training, and public engagement. Its successes include:
- A workshop programme that led to the reconstruction of 105 traditional inland boats of 24 different types.
- Representing Iraq at the Venice Biennale in 2021.
- Increasing awareness through exhibitions of maritime heritage in Basra, Sulaymaniyah, Diwaniyah and a touring exhibition to universities under the Open Museum Initiative for Water Culture.
- Establishing the Iraqi Heritage Boat Clubs to bring traditional boats back to the water in 2024.
- Last year, the clubs partnered with scouting groups to create the Iraqi Water Scouts, expanding engagement with younger generations.
Today, over 500 people are active across eight clubs in the Heritage Boat Clubs Network. Haider Asri Shawi, a member of the Chibayish Heritage Boat Club remembers ‘When we transported the boats to Chibayish and lowered them into the water, there was a large gathering of the people of the area and they were very happy to see their lost heritage again.’
In the year ahead, Safina Projects will be announcing new elements of the programme, including a virtual museum and the Mesopotamia Upon Thames initiative to bring traditional Iraqi boats to the UK.
