Traditional gondola makers face uncertain future

Описание: (11 Feb 2018) LEAD IN :
As revellers flock to the historic waterlogged city of Venice to take part in its famous carnival, many will hop on board a gondola to navigate the city's canals.
However the traditional art of hand crafted gondola making is under threat as young people are not learning the skills.
STORYLINE
A gondola trip is a must-do for most tourists visiting Venice.
The tradition of hand crafting gondolas dates back to the 19th century.
In February 1884, the Tramontin shipyard was created by Roberto Tramontin's great grandfather, Domenico Tramontin.
After working for the Casal shipyard, Domenico decided to set up shop.
During his time the gondola went from being a symmetrical and relatively flat boat to an asymmetrical banana shaped icon.
"Aged 32 he opened here, at that time there wasn't anyone official that could teach you - he stole the knowledge and skills to make a gondola from the masters of that time and built a gondola while re-elaborating it because he didn't believe it was yet perfect," explains his great grandson and now owner of the family shipyard, Roberto Tramontin.
"Nowadays we use the same systems, the same measurements and the same way of working as back then."
To make a gondola the Tramontin workshop use eight different kinds of wood (oak, fir, cherry, larch, walnut, linden, mahogany and elm).
To shape the planks, they must first be soaked in water and later heated with fire to avoid damaging the fibers of the wood.
Matteo Tamassia is an independent boat-builder who collaborates with Roberto and has learned the art of making the Tramontin gondolas.
"When I first arrived here I came with my meter stick, as I had learned to always have one on me along with a pencil, but I found out that they did not use the centimetre here but the Venetian once and feet," he recalls.
"I had to use the sander, lay my meter stick and write down Roberto's unit of measurements next to it."
The Tramontin workshop still uses Venetian measurements that were utilized before the metric system was introduced in Italy in the late 19th century.
Although Tramontin was born into the world of gondola making he did not always love the craft.
Gondolas are made during the winter and working in the cold for hours can be difficult.
He began coming in for some training at age 14 and started to work full time at age 16.
But after making gondolas for 48 years, he has come to appreciate the art recognized worldwide.
"Can you imagine? With just four planks that you gather together you build something that is envied in the entire world," he says.
"The gondola is known worldwide, you go to the Himalayas and they know the gondola or they at least know the prow-head shape, I've heard the gondola is the most photographed thing in the world so it makes me happy - of course with age you begin to fall in love with what you do and you feel sad when it goes away."
"When you launch the boat it's a beautiful day, because after so many days of hard work, the launch is liberation but underneath you fell sorry because it is no longer in the shipyard, I don't see it anymore but I see it go by in the water and that's already something - for demands from foreign countries I always try to offer used gondolas so that when I build a new gondola I still get to see it; if you build a new one for abroad, it can make sense economically but emotionally it's not nice." he adds.
Over the years Tramontin has also tried to make some small changes to make the gondola more resistant.
Alessio Trentin is one of the 433 licensed gondoliers in Venice.
But Tramontin gondolas are now scarce.

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