Highlights from Ferrous 2024: From Earth to Iron

In March, Ferrous 24: From Earth to Iron presented a UK festival of Artist Blacksmithing in the historic city of Hereford that celebrated the innovations of the craft, with metal artists from around the world taking part.  

Delyth Done MBE, the Creative Director of Ferrous, explains, “Ferrous is a unique chance to see the work of artists and designers working in metal from all over the world. It’s an internationally facing festival, with an ethos of inclusive practice that you can’t see anywhere else. It’s also an opportunity for Hereford College of Arts students to reach out to the community and to contribute. It’s a chance to teach, to inspire, to participate, and to make a difference through making.” 

Delyth is the ‘force of nature’ behind Ferrous, building the creative ideas through her role as Head of the School of Materials & Design at Hereford College of Arts (HCA) and Course Leader of BA (Hons) Artist Blacksmithing, one of the few dedicated Artist Blacksmithing degree courses in the world.  

This year’s festival attracted over 96,000 visitors over the 10-day festival, to see thirteen exhibitions within city-centre venues, including takeovers of empty shop units to create easy-to-access exhibition spaces.  

Highlights included No Laughing Matter, an irreverent exhibition of artworks made from nitrous oxide (NOS) canisters, which have recently been criminalised in the UK because of a litter problem resulting from the used canisters. The show was curated by Dauvit Alexander, AKA The Justified Sinner, who invited artists and makers to respond to an open call that questioned the how the law is used for political ends. 

Renowned repoussé artist Douglas Pryor, distinctive with his beautifully curled moustache, travelled from the USA to England to demonstrate his approach to creating intricately designed metal reliefs. He also talked about some of the most challenging pieces he’s created, illustrating how the perception of limitations changed through the making of each piece. 

Sharing a space with both of these exhibitions was Revealing Process, featuring work from the Artist Blacksmithing degree programme at Hereford College of Arts, a show that Delyth was particularly proud of. Displaying not only outcomes, but also spaces and practices generated by every level of student, the innovative exhibition found ways to make process visible and reveal the teaching behind the dynamic HCA programme. HCA students also worked with Master Blacksmith Peter Braspenninx of Phyre Forge, USA, who presented a Masterclass at the college before the festival. Students’ resulting experimental works were exhibited at Ferrous, as part of Masterclass 24. 

56 members of the international art jewellery group the Precious Collective sent their work to Ferrous, for a show curated by innovative jeweller Lynne Speake. Hailing from 31 different countries, the artists responded to the theme of The Space Between, seeking to challenge established concepts about jewellery and to explore it as a mode of storytelling. 

The international work continued with Commonalities of Difference, an exhibition by members of the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths, which seeks to raise awareness of the need to diversify and increase inclusivity in this artform. Meanwhile, Alumna from the MFA in Applied Arts and Design at Gothenburg University, a course that challenges students to develop critical perspectives on society and to navigate the balance between innovation and tradition, created beautifully crafted small to medium pieces of metal art for Ferrous, in an exhibition named Continuation. 

In Hereford’s magnificent Cathedral, a collection of metal crosses was exhibited. A Hope for Peace began with a humanitarian aid package sent to artist blacksmith Serhii Polubotko after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The package included a metal cross, inscribed, For Peace and Hope for Ukraine. Polubotko challenged Ukrainian and international blacksmiths to create their own version of the cross. The exhibition featured the responses of artists from 27 different countries in thoughtful displays. 

Ferrous is proud of its community work, leading workshops in local schools for 240 children, who loved working alongside HCA students so much that some of them made ‘thank you’ cards for them. The pupils’ work was exhibited as part of the festival, alongside work from an outreach project involving six school leavers from disadvantaged backgrounds who were taught forging skills, two of whom have now become apprentice blacksmiths. 

A popular event at Ferrous is an opportunity for the public to try live forging for themselves, creating a simple poker in a half-hour session, accompanied by one of the blacksmithing students. This year, Owen Bush built a clay furnace outside a Hereford shopping centre to create a ‘bloom’ of iron using iron-ore and charcoal in a spectacular event, while sustainable mobile blacksmithing workshop The Nowhere Forge returned to the festival. 

Finally, Forging Futures marked thirty years of degree level Artist Blacksmithing at Hereford College of Arts, celebrating the practice, the product and the innovative lives forged by its graduates. Exhibiting every outcome, from hand forged kitchen knives to sculpture that uses material as metaphor, their work is a manifestation of the programme’s dedication to technical excellence, design and critical thinking. A publication to follow will showcase the art, the architectural work and the craft product of HCA alumna, as well as the varied and creative lives they have forged to support it. Their focus, courage and dedicated engagement continue to shape the future of artist blacksmithing.  

Ferrous festival is a partnership between Hereford Business Improvement District and Hereford College of Arts, with the support of Hereford businesses and venues, funded by Arts Council England National Lottery, Hereford BID, and Herefordshire Council via the UK Government’s Prosperity Fund. 

Written by Rebecca Farkas 

Rebecca Farkas is a visual artist, writer and arts marketer based in the UK. She grew up on travelling circuses, where her dad was the ringmaster, and has worked in the arts all her life. Rebecca makes installations and animations for commissions and exhibitions, and her writing has been published in books, magazines and online. In her marketing work, she helps arts organisations, charities and artists to tell their stories and reach audiences.