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EUROPEAN BIENNIAL OF THE BLACKSMITHS |
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Presentation
GREETING BY THE MAYOR OF STIA
he resources of a territory are not only landscapes, art, and typical products, but also the complex of the immaterial culture of knowledge in making that finds an important showcase in the European Biennial of Wrought Iron Exhibition. This is an important meeting and exchange point for blacksmiths from all over the world, who are the keepers of an ancient profession that, in centuries, has maintained unchanged many of its characteristics. Blacksmiths are the real protagonists of an event that this year is even richer for what regards the international character of the manifestation, thanks to the twinning between 7 municipalities, members of the European Union of the Cities of Iron, that was signed in Stia last year. This twinning is an “iron pact”, the result of a long activity carried out by our Administration and the Association for the Biennial of Wrought Iron. They have created during these years a profitable net of relationships and exchanges in all Europe. This twinning is a bond that will sure contribute to make the interest on the world of the blacksmith art grow and will open new opportunities of cultural and tourist nature for Stia and for the whole Casentino. I wish to greet all the participants, speaking for the whole Municipality Administration too, and I thank those who have made the organization of the manifestation possible. I wish that this can be the occasion to approach the world of wrought iron; a world rich of tradition and history, that for thousands years has been and still is part of the culture of our Country.
Luca Santini Mayor of Stia
GREETING BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE BIENNIAL
The European Biennial of Wrought Iron Exhibition reaches its 17th edition. More than thirty years have passed since the beginning of this manifestation and we believe to have strongly contributed to giving development and dignity to this noble handicraft activity, trying to achieve those goals that we had set when we started. Stia and the Casentino have gradually become one of the crucial point in order to give back to the wrought iron the quality and the dignity of such an artistic handicraft. So wrought iron gained again the title to play a part in the architecture, in the street furniture and in the furnishing. The best Italian and foreign Masters have been meeting with a constructive spirit every two years in Stia, aware that our town was offering to them a great occasion of contacts, of exchanges of experiences, and reflections on the techniques. The vocation of Stia for the iron joined the conscience of a continuous renewal and the research for always new shapes in working; in fact, like all the artistic handicrafts, also ours must have its roots in the history, and must draw vital lymph from the tradition, but it must also be the expression of the age and of the civilization within which it lives. Naturally in years the Biennial changed and grew: from national it had become European; it has given space to new numerous initiatives and above all it has found a way to give value to the Forging World Championship as a moment highly spectacular, but even more as an occasion for concrete and friendly comparison of techniques, styles, cultures. We strongly believe that the 17th European Biennial of Wrought Iron Exhibition has everything to meet the favour of the authorities, of the master forgers, and of the hopefully big public, that this year too will meet in the streets and the squares of Stia. I would like to express to all the participants my warmest welcome and my best wishes for a pleasant and profitable stay.
Prof. Paolo Caleri President of the Autonomous Association for the “Biennial of the Blacksmith”
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