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Biannual European Exhibition of Blacksmithing Art in Stia
From August 31st to September 3rd takes place the 22nd Edition of the wrought iron handicraft exhibition. With over forty exhibitors and more than 100 blacksmiths, the event is the most important appointment in the field in Europe, offering an extraordinary opportunity to meet and compare notes for craftsmen coming from around the world who keep the tradition of wrought iron handicraft alive.
Four days of handicraft, art and design to offer an ever growing and discerning public a vast and varied overview of the blacksmithing production, between tradition and innovation.
Now in its 22nd edition and in over 40 years of history, the Biennale has been capable to renew itself and above all to present itself in the European panorama with competence, originality and elegance, always offering new things and spectacular moments. From the International Drawing Competition to the World Blacksmithing Championship, from the first International Sculpture Competition, a novelty of the 2017 Edition, up to the exhibition inside the historic wool factory (Storico Lanificio) of Stia.
This is an event that, in the last years, has widened its length beyond the actual days of the exhibition and of its biannual recurrence, working with its training activity regularly year round. In this respect the Biennale takes part to the “Erasmus +” program, aiming to creating a ’European Iron Academy (EIA), a European agency that will take care of defining and training the professianl competences in the field of metalworks.
The most inspiring event is certainly the world blacksmithing competition: twelve furnaces alight from morning to night, twelve anvils on which the hammers mould the molten iron, guided by the expert hands of the master blacksmiths coming from all over the world. An occasion for competition, but even more an opportunity to effectively and friendly compare each others’ techniques, styles and cultures. The novelty of the 2017 edition is the first International Sculpture Competition promoted by the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi and devoted to the theme of natural geometries. The event is organized by the City Hall of Stia (Comune di Pratovecchio Stia) and by the Associazione Autonoma per la Biennale d’Arte Fabbrile.
L’evento più suggestivo è sicuramente il campionato mondiale della forgiatura: dodici forge accese da mattina a notte, dodici incudini sulle quali i martelli plasmano il ferro incandescente, guidati dalle mani esperte di maestri fabbri provenienti da tutto il mondo. Un momento di competizione ma ancor più un’occasione di concreto e amichevole confronto di tecniche, stili e culture.
La novità dell’edizione 2017 è il 1° Concorso Internazionale di Scultura promosso dal Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi e dedicato al tema delle Geometrie naturali.
L’evento è organizzato dal Comune di Pratovecchio Stia e dall’Associazione Autonoma per la Biennale d’Arte Fabbrile.