Howzit Saffer Blacksmiths,

I am what you would call a backyard blacksmith, living in Cape Town.  I want to try find out if local blacksmiths would be interested in a blacksmith expo to show products made or just to network and hold some kind of fair/expo.

I am an exhibition designer by trade and with 12 years experience I am thinking of jumping onto this and trying to get the ball rolling however before I do I would like to see how many of us backyard and professional blacksmiths would be interested in such a venture.  I think it would be a very good thing for everyone just because its more exposure and we can start to actually get a count on how many blacksmiths are out there.  At the moment there is nothing like this for blacksmiths in general the bladesmiths have the knife shows but thats just knives, and the rest get left out.  I will push this hard and if anyone is  interested please let me know so we could get in contact.  also I am trying to figure out what size of area a mini smithy would be needed to exhibit at a show for a blacksmith if its just product, its just a display area but i think its really nice to see experience  in action and you can pick your own errors when watching someone with skill and experience.

Thanks guys all the best to you all

 

Massive banner removed

 

57 minutes ago, Blacksnith Bear said:

Cape Town

I don't have any idea what is available in South Africa, or how many smiths there are, nationally.  However there are certainly international blacksmith gatherings as well as a fairly large artist blacksmith meeting here in the US that often has a significant international component (ABANA).  Perhaps you could use these as models for your proposed event, once you have an idea of the potential number of participants.

Ianinsa, lives in the Johannesburg area but he has not been in on the site in a little while.

There are several other members in S. A. but I do not recall their names.

SLAG.

Send Ianinsa a message. He has a business and does work all over----like Dubai all over place, not just S.A. There are more than just you and him in S.A, so hopefully this post will draw some out. 

 South African Highveld would be a place to start looking for blacksmiths in your area

9 hours ago, Blacksnith Bear said:

  Howzit Saffer Blacksmiths,

 

Hoesit.

I am sorry, I am not very often on IFI, the forum software does not work well with my old computer.

Most of the blacksmiths I know are up here in the North. We have a forge-in at least once a year, and are sorta looking for a new venue after Wheels on the Vaal closed down.

During our last forge in we had a discussion about creating a SA Artist Blacksmith Association. There is some very small beginnings.

If you send me a pm I can get you in touch with some of the guys.