Maritime Trades of the Cyclades

We are pleased to introduce our upcoming project, “Maritime Trades of the Cyclades,” focused on documenting the coexisting knowledge systems and practices of traditional boatbuilding, small-scale fishing, and seafaring. Our primary goal is to safeguard and promote these invaluable traditions, creating a permanent record of both their intangible knowledge and material evidence.

Working in collaboration with esteemed local partners such as the Koufonisi Municipal Community, the Fishing Association of Amorgos, the Paros Park, the Santorini Archive Project, and the Industrial Museum of Syros-Ermoupolis, we have diligently identified and digitized significant local archival materials.

Conducting parallel visual ethnographic research on each island, our comprehensive approach includes over fifteen informational interviews, alongside contemporary photographic and video documentation of boatbuilding, fishing, and seafaring activities.

As the project unfolds, the Archipelago Network will present an array of outputs, including an interactive digital map of the five islands, a series of documentary films, and public programs in the Cyclades and beyond.

“Analipsi” fishing caique of Amorgos, c. 1993.