| Description |
“Pinisi”, literally referring to the rig and sails of the famed ‘Sulawesi schooner’, for both the Indonesian and international public has become the epitome of the Archipelago’s indigenous sailing craft. Construction and deployment of such vessels stand in the millennia-long tradition of Austronesian (‘Malayo-Polynesian’) boatbuilding and navigation that brought forth a broad variety of sophisticated watercraft, ranging from the outriggered boats that enabled man to migrate throughout the vast expanses of the Pacific and Indian Oceans to the massive ships encountered by the first European intruders into the Malay Archipelago.
As in any maritime tradition, these practices involve sophisticated cognitive concepts that outline the three-dimensional form of a ship and its countless components as well as the advanced social organisation necessary to successfully build, operate and navigate trading vessels.
Following centuries of mutual co-operation, the three communities now represent the pinnacle of the Archipelago’s boatbuilding and navigation traditions. In indigenous perception a ship’s hull is conceptionalised in the form of ‘plank patterns’ (tatta), i.e., comprehensive mental routines that delineate the configuration and assembly sequence of a hull’s planking, her inner strengthenings and the dowels holding planks and framing together. Deeply embedded into a series of rituals that complement the building process, these routines for many a traditional type of vessel define position, form and size of each plank, frame or dowel in a hull; for more contemporary ships the tatta provides an overall draught that can be adapted to changing constructional demands, thus facilitating perpetuation and enhancements. |
| Social and cultural significance |
Today about 70% of the population of the district make a living through the work related to boatbuilding and navigation; according to the oldest surviving accounts of the area, for at least the people of Lemo-Lemo and Bira this had already been the case for a considerable time-span when the first foreign visitors arrived in the seventeenth century. Unsurprisingly, shipbuilding and sailing are not only the communities’ economic mainstay, but the central focus of their lives and identity.
Building of a ship is conceptionalised as pregnancy and birth into a family, here that of the people involved in the process. Symbolised in the associated rituals, the laying of a keel signifies the germination of the timbers that eventually will become a ship; the completed vessel’s launching marks its birth; outfitting and maiden voyage are its parents’ efforts to prepare their child for its future life journey.
The social and cultural interdependences of the three villages are described in the well-known adage, ‘Panre patangara’na Bira, pasingkolo’na tu Arayya, pabingkungna tu Lemo’ (‘The mariners of Bira know how to guide, fitting the planks is the task of the people of Ara, the ship is finished by the people of Lemo-Lemo’), today inscribed into a rock at Bira Harbour. Since its conception in the second half of the nineteenth century, the pinisi schooner but became the icon of the communities’ culture, and today not only symbolises their erudition and customs, but grew into an epitome of the Archipelago’s maritime tradition per se. |
| Transmission method |
Knowledge and skills are passed down from generations to generations within the family circle, yet may also be transferred to individuals outside of the family who evince a desire to learn. Any knowledge transmitted within the family is passed from parents to children through habituation, example, and repetition. Knowledge transmission to individuals outside of the family circle is done so through the division of labour. Knowledge related to the tatta building plans and the ritual background is passed only to individuals who consistently display ability and nia’ (‘deep desire’) to master it.
Novices would have to pass through an informal ‘career chain’, progressing from basic to more complex tasks, and eventually may become masters themselves. An apprentice (Sawi Pamula) would commence with cooking for the group of workmen and drilling holes holding the frames to the planking, while gradually learning more complicated chores as, e.g., fitting planks. Acknowledgment as Sawi Kabusu needs recognition of the skills aquired by both the Panrita Lopi and other accomplished shipwrights.
To inherit any more sophisticated knowledge, an apprentice has to clearly demonstrate self-efficacy and spiritual maturity. Based on intuition and guidance that is believed to come from God, a Panrita Lopi would select a “rightful” inheritor to such learning and gradually share his “secret and sacred” knowledge. This final training commences with the details of tatta plans and concludes with the erudition related to rituals and their esoteric background. |
| Community |
The shipwrights of Lemo-Lemo, and Ara, and the mariners of Bira, Regency of Bulukumba, Province of South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Boatbuilding and navigation are an integral part of the daily life in the three villages, governing most of the community’s social, economic and cultural fabric. The key parties involved are Panrita Lopi, Sawi, and Sambalu.
a. The master shipwrights of Lemo-Lemo and Ara, the Panrita Lopi (‘maestros of the ship’), are the bearers of the erudite knowledge of tatta plans. They conceive the blueprint of the ship and guide and direct the construction. In most cases, they also lead the essential rituals performed throughout the building process. A Panrita Lopi oversees a group of workmen (Sawi) and, depending on the complexity and size of the ship to be built, manages the division of work and labour. The position of Panrita Lopi is inherited through family ties and/or through persistent engagement in boat construction.
b. Based on their skills and dependability, Sawi are ranked from Sawi Kepala (foreman), Sawi Kabusu (senior shipwright) to Sawi Pamula, a novice shipwright.
Sambalu are the customers of the Panrita Lopi. They submit the measurement and type of boat to be built. A Sambalu would directly or indirectly be involved in the process of boat construction from the conceptionalisation to launching. The master mariners of Bira, the most prominent Sambalu of the people of Lemo-Lemo and Ara, traditionally oversee rigging and caulking for their own as well as for ships ordered by other people. Their various demands provide numerous incentives for innovations.
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| Type of UNESCO List |
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List |
2017 |
