Dhow Furniture
From Dhows to designer furniture Dhow boats are built to last with many of them sailing the Indian Ocean upwards of 60 years. However, a carpentry workshop in Nungwi, on Zanzibar Island, is giving these boats a second life even after they are no longer seaworthy by building amazing one-off furniture from their timber. Owner of Dhow Furniture Charles Elihaki Issack reveals how the handcrafted pieces created in his workshop are steeped in a uniquely Zanzibari history.
I
n 2008 when the owners of The Zanzibari, in Nungwi on the northern tip of Zanzibar Island, were looking to kit out the beachfront boutique hotel’s rooms and public areas with furniture that was both sustainable and entwined with the history of the Zanzibar archipelago they set up an experimental workshop, the Dhow Wood Recycling Project with local artisan Charles Elihaki Issack. Dhows are intrinsically linked with the Swahili coast’s storied history of maritime trade with the handcrafted wooden vessels transporting goods from Persia, Arabia and India, their sails filled by the Indian Ocean’s monsoon winds. While the sailing boats are still a familiar sight from the Zanzibar shore bobbing on the sparkling waves, wander the vanilla sand beaches here and you’re also likely to come across a number of abandoned boats – deemed no longer seaworthy by their owners
The project team set about stripping the wood from these old dhow boats with Issack and his carpenters then using it to build unique tables, beds, doors and sofas. Even the Zanzibari’s hotel bar was fashioned from a complete dhow, sail and all.
after many decades of service.
It has now been running 14 years
Handcrafted The sustainable furniture was made entirely from the reclaimed wood – with nothing wasted and no trees cut down – and each handcrafted item had its own story to tell. Feedback from hotels guests was hugely positive and Issack was soon getting a host of new commissions from other hotels and private homes on the island for more dhow-inspired work. He set up his own studio, called Dhow Furniture, in the heart of the Nungwi fishing village and assembled a team of crack carpenters sourced from all corners of the island to help him meet demand.
A bookcase carved from the hull of a dhow
and has supplied some of the best-known hotels and restaurants in Zanzibar. Clients include PiliPili Family and Passion Boutique Hotel in Jambiani; Mr Kahawa restaurant and beach villas and beachfront resort Mahali Zanzibar in Paje; Kendwa Rocks Beach Resort; PiliPili National Park; Marafiki Beach Hotel and SeVi Boutique Hotel in Mateme; and Z-Lodge on Kiwengwa beach. The furniture at The Zanzibari is still very much a part of the hotel’s charm some 15 years
Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com
27
