XXV EUROPEAN BIENNIAL SHOW OF BLACKSMITHING ART
Traditional forging championship
31 AUGUST 1 • 2 • 3 SEPTEMBER 2023
The European Biennial Show of Blacksmithing Art in Stia is the most traditional event about Wrought Iron held regularly in Italy since 1976; born from an idea by Pier Luigi della Bordella and Ivan Bruschi, with the fundamental support of Vittoriano Frulloni, who was the Mayor of Stia back then, it is the dean of the Exhibitions of Artistic Crafting of Forged Irons which are held continuously throughout the world.
Over the years, this event has proved to be the most important point of reference in the world of Blacksmithing Art, thus becoming simultaneously an opportunity to make the Casentino Valley known, with the aim of creating a fruitful exchange between culture, craftsmanship and promotion of the Territory.
It is the umpteenth fundamental demonstration of the sensitivity and of the natural predisposition that the people of the Casentino Valley show towards craftsmanship, and the proof, for national and European observers, that Tuscany still remains the cradle of the civilization of artisan work and applied arts.
Stia has always opened its doors to both Masters and young blacksmiths from all over the world, gaining the international recognition of “Manifestation Without Borders”, an undisputed showcase of a high quality wrought iron artistic handicraft.
We are talking about wrought Iron in the truest sense of the term and about a craftsmanship which is never indulging too much in showy interventions of excessively advanced technologies.
A tenaciously sustained tutelage, dialectically protected too, of a product which must remain authentic – not a timeless and incorrigible conservatism, but a conscious commitment in an open confrontation in defence of an Art that has recreated a space of its own, leaning towards the needs of the future.
MAP https://biennale-arte-fabbrile.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2023/08/13075029/Mappa-intera-Biennale.pdf
PROGRAM https://biennale-arte-fabbrile.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2023/08/13075541/Programma-intera-Biennale.pdf
PROGRAMME
> SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER
• 08:00/24:00 – Piazza G. Mazzini
“11th World Forging Championship”
• 08:00/20:00 – Officine Capodarno’s head office c/o Ex Elementary School
”10th International Design and Drawing Contest – Pier Luigi della Bordella”
• 09:30/23:00 Piazza della Repubblica
Opening of the exhibition stands with metalworking tools
• 09:30/23:30 – Lanificio (Wool Mill)
Opening of the Exhibition Space “Wool Mill Empty Space_Incubator of Ideas”
• 09:30/24:00 – Piazza B. Tanucci
”Sculptural Art Itinerary_4th International Sculpture Competition”
CONFERENCE
> SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER
• 09:30 – Lombard Hall – Lanificio (Wool Mill)
Delyth Done (England)
“Creative Pedagogy. Empowering and facilitating artist blacksmiths in their creative process.”
• 10:30 – Lombard Hall – Lanificio (Wool Mill)
David Swift (England)
“From the heart to the hands”
• 11:30 – Lombard Hall – Lanificio (Wool Mill)
Alfred Bullermann (Germany)
“Contruction of a naturalistic welded wayside cross”
• 15:00 – Lombard Hall – Lanificio (Wool Mill)
Rick Smith (U.S.A.)
“Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Blacksmithing Program & Practices”
• 16:00 – Lombard Hall – Lanificio (Wool Mill)
Adam Hawk (U.S.A.)
“New Traditions” – teaching and art program at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and his own work
• 17:00 – Lombard Hall – Lanificio (Wool Mill)
Jeff Funk (U.S.A.)
“Selected Works and the New Agrarian School”
MUSICAL EVENTS
> SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER
• 18:30 – Piazza B. Tanucci
Aperitif in music
• 21:30 – Piazza B. Tanucci
THE GROOVIN GROUPIES – The show is a vintage-themed musical show with a repertoire of 50s and 60s music as well as a selection of more recent songs but arranged and adapted in a fifties key. Thus it ranges from Elvis Presley to Edoardo Bennato, from the Beach Boys to Vasco Rossi, all interpreted in a rock and roll or swing key
COLLATERAL EVENTS
Memories of Iron – Traditional Artistic Iron Products of the Casentino Valley
“Museo del Bosco, della Montagna e dello Sci” – Ecomuseo del Casentino
Japan Forging Group with Yukio Kanari & C.
“Forging Area Lanificio (Wool Mill)”
French Catalonia Forging Group with Bruno Vidal & C.
“Forging Area Lanificio (Wool Mill)”
Forging Workshop for Children from 6 to 12 years old with Daphne Kooistra and Paul Klaasen
Reservations required at “Forging Area Lanificio (Wool Mill)” and Info Point Lanificio FREE OF CHARGE
Saturday 2 September 10:00 – 13:00 / 15:00 – 19:00
Creative Workshops for Children from 6 to 12 years old
c/o Museo dell’Arte della Lana – Cost € 5,00
Reservations required at: info@museodellartedellalana.it
Saturday 2 september 11:00 – 12:00 / 16:30 – 18:30
Evening Events c/o National Park Planetarium
Saturday 2 September 21:00 – The summer constellations: between science and myth
Cost: €5,00 – Free of charge for children under 7 years – Reservation required
Info and reservation:
Parco Nazionale Foreste Casentinesi +39 0575 503029
Coop. Óros +39 370 157 9443 (WhatsApp) | prenotazioni@orostoscana.it
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