A Festival of Artist Blacksmithing, Hereford – 5th April 2019
05/04/2019
By 2018 Nathaniel Hone
A Festival of Artist Blacksmithing was organised by Hereford Bid and the Hereford College of Arts. This runs from 5th to 14th April at various venues in Hereford City. mostly in the Maylord shopping centre and is a mixture of exhibitions and presentations and the opportunity to have a go yourself.
Paul Mikula, a South African Blacksmith designed a piece called “African Sun Mandela”, which was assembled by students from the HCA and I saw at the Maylord Shopping centre in Gomond Street. It is magnificent.
Ambrose Burne, a lecturer at the HCA, set a challenge for students world-wide to make the most of a piece of metal 150mm by 20mm by 20mm. It attracted more than 200 entries which are on exhibition throughout the week before they go on tour. The creativity and the beauty of the results left me open-mouthed. As the last event for this High Sheriff before handing over to his successor in about an hour’s time, it was a great finale.
