In September 2009, Beat Presser flies to East Africa for a few months. He had long wanted to find out more about the construction technique and manufacture of a dhow and its builders. A dhow is a ship made of wood, but the name is also an umbrella term for the sailing ships that have sailed the Indian Ocean for thousands of years. The adventure begins in Zanzibar and takes Beat Presser to the islands of Mafia and Pemba and on to Madagascar. He immerses himself in the world of shipbuilders who, like their fathers and forefathers, use primitive technical means to build their boats from the wood of mangroves and mango trees. Dhows are fast and maneuverable ships that are used as fishing boats and transport ships. He also meets pirates who show him a completely different side to this problem. Presser gets to know the lives of the locals, goes out to sea with them and hears their age-old stories, which are passed down from generation to generation. This is how his impressive black and white pictures are created, which allow the viewer to share in his experiences in this distant and archaic world of boat builders. The emphasis of the cosmopolitan can also be found in his texts, which tell of experiences in today's Africa, of encounters with like-minded people, but also with adversaries such as smugglers and pirates.
In September 2009, Beat Presser flies to East Africa for a few months. He had long wanted to find out...
