US - Czech
Artisan Blacksmith Exchange

This project is part of a larger effort to start a blacksmith exchange program aimed at keeping this traditional craft alive not only as art form but as a craft for restoring historic objects or forging every-day functional but artful products.

1) Long term, the program will bring a closer and more regular cooperation between US and Czech blacksmiths on a more regional level outside the main international symposiums (international cooperation).

2) This cooperation should help enable student-apprentice exchanges between the USA and the Czech Republic (educational output).

3) A larger audience will have become familiar with products and artwork of Czech and US blacksmiths
(reaching a wider audience).

4) By explicitly showing daily-use goods (furniture, fences, doors, hinges), more people might be interested in buying such products (economical benefit).

The US - Czech Artisan Blacksmith Exchange brings a strong international input to the Nove Hrady Blacksmith Meeting. Two or three visiting US blacksmiths and their Czech counterparts will work alongside each other during the activities. They will exchange techniques and experiences in the workshops. During the demonstrations, they will show similarities and differences in regional US and Czech blacksmith traditions to the wider audience.

The participation of blacksmiths from the USA in the Nove Hrady Blacksmith Meeting is largely funded by the US Embassy in Czech Republic.

us embassy

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