Vessel: stories from the edge of the world

Abstract

From the first instances of human inhabitation on the island of Newfoundland, wooden boats have been crucial facilitators to life on The Rock. Those who called this beautifully rugged land home were able to do so as a direct result of hand built wooden watercraft, fashioned from the land and made for the purpose of existing on the sea. Today, wooden boats have long since given way to the pressures of the industrial age, yet a select few people continue to practice this tradition of boat building for both personal, practical, and heritage preservation reasons. As an object of material culture, wooden boat building is argued to represent an act of placemaking, intertwining the collective identity of communities with the individual identity of boat builders.

Exploratory filmmaking practice and interviews with Newfoundlanders involved in boat building traditions reflect and refract the socio-cultural conditions that characterize the place. A documentary film is made to express the synergetic relationship between wooden boats, the landscape, and the culture surrounding it. Ultimately, the film is a vessel for the ineffable experiences of Newfoundland as a true expression of place.