Runa Khan Marre - 2006 Associate Laureate

Runa Khan Marre developed her project to stop the rapid decline of a wooden boat-building tradition which dates back 3,000 years. Runa Khan Marre on the last malar afloat, a traditional wooden cargo sailing boat, the first that she restaured with local craftsmen in 1996. The Living Museum aims to preserve and revive the craftsmanship and skills necessary to restore and build traditional boats, such as this 18-metre, sea-faring shampan. At the Living Museum, carpenters from the Bay of Bengal area build from scratch a sea-faring shampan, one of the over 40 types of traditional Bangladeshi boats that will be preserved. Boats are the main means of transport in Bangladesh, a country with 600 rivers. Khan Marre’s project will restore or build over 40 different types of traditional, wooden watercraft. To ensure his skills and knowledge are passed on, each master carpenter at Khan Marre’s Living Museum supervises a team of workers and apprentices. Khan Marre (left) observes carpenters adopt traditional techniques to turn one of only two remaining staple-hulled palowari boats on its side by using bamboo scaffolding as a winch. Authentic replicas of 27 types of traditional boats, such as a podi (left) and a malar (right), are exhibited at the Living Museum, shedding new light on this ancient cultural heritage. Khan Marre has commissioned ship carpenters to create over 200 boat replicas. To record their ancestral know-how, she asked them to use authentic materials and building techniques.
Runa Khan Marre developed her project to stop the rapid decline of a wooden boat-building tradition which dates back 3,000 years.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
Runa Khan Marre developed her project to stop the rapid decline of a wooden boat-building tradition which dates back 3,000 years.

Runa Khan Marre on the last malar afloat, a traditional wooden cargo sailing boat, the first that she restaured with local craftsmen in 1996.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
Runa Khan Marre on the last malar afloat, a traditional wooden cargo sailing boat, the first that she restaured with local craftsmen in 1996.

The Living Museum aims to preserve and revive the craftsmanship and skills necessary to restore and build traditional boats, such as this 18-metre, sea-faring shampan.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
The Living Museum aims to preserve and revive the craftsmanship and skills necessary to restore and build traditional boats, such as this 18-metre, sea-faring shampan.

At the Living Museum, carpenters from the Bay of Bengal area build from scratch a sea-faring shampan, one of the over 40 types of traditional Bangladeshi boats that will be preserved.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
At the Living Museum, carpenters from the Bay of Bengal area build from scratch a sea-faring shampan, one of the over 40 types of traditional Bangladeshi boats that will be preserved.

Boats are the main means of transport in Bangladesh, a country with 600 rivers. Khan Marre’s project will restore or build over 40 different types of traditional, wooden watercraft.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
Boats are the main means of transport in Bangladesh, a country with 600 rivers. Khan Marre’s project will restore or build over 40 different types of traditional, wooden watercraft.

To ensure his skills and knowledge are passed on, each master carpenter at Khan Marre’s Living Museum supervises a team of workers and apprentices.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
To ensure his skills and knowledge are passed on, each master carpenter at Khan Marre’s Living Museum supervises a team of workers and apprentices.

Khan Marre (left) observes carpenters adopt traditional techniques to turn one of only two remaining staple-hulled palowari boats on its side by using bamboo scaffolding as a winch.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
Khan Marre (left) observes carpenters adopt traditional techniques to turn one of only two remaining staple-hulled palowari boats on its side by using bamboo scaffolding as a winch.

Authentic replicas of 27 types of traditional boats, such as a podi (left) and a malar (right), are exhibited at the Living Museum, shedding new light on this ancient cultural heritage.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
Authentic replicas of 27 types of traditional boats, such as a podi (left) and a malar (right), are exhibited at the Living Museum, shedding new light on this ancient cultural heritage.

Khan Marre has commissioned ship carpenters to create over 200 boat replicas. To record their ancestral know-how, she asked them to use authentic materials and building techniques.

©Rolex Awards/Heine Pedersen

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006
Khan Marre has commissioned ship carpenters to create over 200 boat replicas. To record their ancestral know-how, she asked them to use authentic materials and building techniques.