Owzar
AhmadAli Kargaran
- Period
- 2021
- Location
- Hormoz Island
Project Overview
Owzar is a project centered on salvaging a decommissioned wooden sailing dhow on Hormoz Island and rebuilding it into a mobile, land-bound structure. Instead of traveling by sea, this modified vessel moves through the island's landlocked neighborhoods to bring cultural, artistic, and educational programs directly to local children and youth. The vehicle was constructed by combining weathered timbers from the old dhow, leftover scaffolding pipes from a local construction site, and the wheeled trailers typically used along Iran's southern coast to haul motorboats out of the water.
Measuring roughly twelve meters long and three meters wide, the structure can accommodate about one hundred visitors when fully deployed. It features a folding design: it narrows significantly for easy transport through tight streets and expands outward when parked to create built-in seating areas. As it moves between various neighborhoods on Hormoz Island, the vessel unfolds to reveal seven distinct, dedicated program stations.
Context & Site
The project was executed on Hormoz Island, where one of the traditional wooden dhows slated for destruction under decommissioning laws was still moored at the local port. The choice of location was deeply personal rather than just geographic. Kargaran has been an active fixture in the Hormoz art community since the mid-2000s, developing close ties with local captains, sailors, and the broader maritime community over decades. This deep-seated local trust is what allowed him to convince both the current and former owners of the dhow to hand it over for creative reconstruction.
The vehicle is designed to transition smoothly through urban, suburban, and rural spaces alike, including pedestrian walkways, parks, and residential blocks. In Kargaran's view, space itself serves as a medium for connection. The mobility of the structure allows the artwork to intercept people in their everyday routines; rather than requiring an audience to seek out a formal art venue, the art venue moves directly into their path.
Participation & Process
Phase 1: Locating and Acquiring the Dhow
The project began by tracking down an intact, weathered dhow at the Hormoz port. After securing permission from its owners, the team documented the vessel's history (including details of its construction) and recorded oral histories of its past voyages. The wooden hull was then carefully dismantled piece by piece and moved to the project workshop.
Phase 2: Gathering Recycled Materials and Building the Frame
Constructing a frame durable enough to handle the stress of land travel required specific materials. For structural integrity, the artist used discarded scaffolding pipes from a construction site, welding them together to form the vehicle's main skeleton. For mobility, the team sourced a handmade, out-of-use boat trailer — the kind local fishermen use to park motorboats on the beach — which was thoroughly reinforced and rebuilt in the workshop.
Phase 3: Engaging Captains and Sailors
Older, experienced seafarers were invited directly into the workshop to help shape the vessel's final form and ensure that local maritime terminology was accurately assigned to each modified section. The sail was hand-tailored by Captain Khalil Owj Hormozi, and the recognized owners of the salvaged dhow were Captain Ali Malek Salamati and Captain Naser Kababi.
Phase 4: Setting Up the Seven Stations
The completed structure is divided into seven functional creative areas: an open-air cinema that uses the vessel's large sail as a projection screen; a storytelling station, positioned at the helm, utilizing the dhow's rudder as a podium; a puppet theatre, directly on the main deck and bow; a painting station, placed along the fixed, non-folding middle sides of the hull; a library, located inside the rear cabin of the ship; a music station, set up along the entrance steps leading into the cabin; and a gallery, at the far end of the structure, to exhibit artwork made during current or past workshops.
Phase 5: Neighborhood Performances
While adults handle the logistical task of towing the dhow to its destination, the actual programming, coordination, and execution are run entirely by the youth.
Participation in Owzar functions across two primary layers. The first occurs during the build phase as an act of pure collective making. Bringing captains, sailors, shipwrights, and previous owners into the workshop allowed oral histories, nautical terms, sea shanties, and maritime rituals to be preserved within the physical project. Here, participation focuses on building infrastructure — a community platform that, once finished, hosts the actions of others. The collaborative focus is directed toward creating a shared resource that rescues the fading maritime heritage of southern Iran and transforms it into a functional, moving platform.
The second layer activates once the vessel hits the streets. The island's children are positioned not merely as passive observers or beneficiaries, but as the primary coordinators of the space. Adults handle the physical relocation of the vehicle, but the content across all seven stations is produced and managed by the kids themselves.
Children plan and perform for children, and the adults only move the dhow to the chosen location.
Motivations & Questions
The initial idea for Owzar grew out of a research-driven exhibition exploring traditional sailing dhows in southern Iran. While investigating the distinct regional variations and naming conventions of wooden ships across the Persian Gulf, Kargaran confronted a critical issue: a government mandate requiring the systematic destruction and decommissioning of all traditional wooden vessels within a five-year window. For Kargaran, replacing these regional wooden crafts with modern fiberglass boats meant the erasure of a deep-rooted coastal lifestyle:
This realization sparked a practical challenge: could a ship destined to be broken up or burned be repurposed into an educational tool for children, redesigned to travel directly to where they live? More broadly, Kargaran views the shift away from conventional galleries as a critique of both the hyper-commercialization of the contemporary art world and the stark lack of educational infrastructure and artistic resources available in marginal communities far from capital cities. Owzar was built to tackle both issues at once.
The vast oral, transmitted knowledge of dhow-building, together with human skills, the sounds and songs tied to these vessels — the music for raising the sail, the rituals of launching the dhow, the seasonal rituals of fishing, and dozens of other elements of oral culture — are all set to be destroyed at once.
Conditions & Negotiations
The project had to navigate an array of bureaucratic, financial, and structural hurdles. Administratively, the team faced complex permit requirements for public performances. Structurally, they were racing directly against the decommissioning law slated to destroy the vessel. Financially, they operated completely without state funding or institutional backing, relying instead on independent backers and local volunteers.
The project adapted through specific design choices. To circumvent the destruction mandate, they acquired and moved the ship before it could be destroyed, with the explicit consent of its captains. To counter financial shortages, they relied entirely on recycled and salvaged components — old ship timbers, leftover scaffolding, and an abandoned trailer. Finally, to manage regulatory friction or sudden interference during public events, they designed the vehicle to be fluid and fully mobile, allowing it to easily pack up and change locations if confronted.
Documentation
Collaborators & Support
The core execution team included Amin Timas (Executive Management), Alireza Adimi (Coordination), Amir Bahari Tehrani (Supervision), and Mojtaba Niripour (Technical and Operational Direction). Masoud Khademi led wood fabrication, with lighting design by Kambujieh Poshtgol and logistics by Nabi Timas. Local support on the island was anchored by Ayoub Owj Hormozi and Zabih Zarangari, while the performance team consisted of Asad Gedri, Hossein Zohouri, and Abbas Gedri.
Project documentation was managed by Amirhossein Dabehgar, with photography by Navvab Jafari and Armin Abast. The underlying vessel belonged to Captain Ali Malek Salamati and Captain Naser Kababi, and its sail was crafted by Captain Khalil Owj Hormozi. Institutional coordination was facilitated via the Rong Cultural and Tourism Centre alongside the Shahid Bahonar Port and Maritime Authority (Port of Hormoz). The project received no official funding and was realized entirely through private sector contributions and independent enthusiasts.
Further Resources
Interview with AhmadAli Kargaran, "The cargo of this ship on Hormoz Island is a story", IRNA News Agency (in Persian).
Project notes and documentation, artist's blog (in Persian).
About the Artist
AhmadAli Kargaran (born 1973 in Bandar Abbas/Gamberoon) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice bridges ecological advocacy with regional heritage and folk culture. Alongside an active studio painting practice, Kargaran focuses on site-specific installations in public spaces and performance art. He has been deeply involved in the Hormoz Island art scene since the 2000s, serving as the artistic director of the Jerry Pollock House and organizing numerous regional festivals and cultural events.
Blog: ak.blogsky.com Instagram: @ahmadkargaran
This entry was prepared based on materials shared by the artist.