IIW 2023 Welded Art Book

Unique international cooperation and collaboration in welded art:

The Australian Blacksmiths Association (Victoria) was the Lead Organisation in collaboration with volunteer blacksmiths and blacksmithing organisations across the world and welders and engineers in Australia. In January and February, 2009, devastating bushfires swept across the state of Victoria killing 173 people, leaving thousands homeless and destroying 400,000 hectares of townships and bushland. Following the fires, the Australian Blacksmiths Association (Victoria) asked blacksmiths to forge metal leaves for a gumtree intended as a gift for the fire affected communities. Blacksmiths across Australia and from 28 countries around the world answered the call and sent over 3,500 hand forged gumleaves towards what became known as the Blacksmiths’ Tree. The project engaged a huge team of volunteer blacksmiths, engineers and welders and took five years to construct. The Blacksmiths’ Tree stands in an indigenous garden to remember all of those who perished in the fires of 2009, those who fought the fires and those who continue to live their lives with hope and courage. Through international friendships formed during the making of the Tree, Australian blacksmiths participated in making steel roses for a memorial sculpture following the attacks in Oslo and Utøya The Blacksmiths’ Tree

in Norway in 2011, https://www.jernrosene.no/english and forged poppies for the Ypres Peace Monument, a WWI memorial in Belgium http://www.yprespeacemonument.com/ nContact Infon Blacksmiths’ Tree Page: https://www.abavic.org.au/ (due to be updated later this year) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlacksmithTreeProject/ Forged From Fire: feature length documentary about the Blacksmiths’ Tree: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/forgedfromfire

YouTube: (footage of welding the Tree here) https://www.youtube.com/user/AusBlacksmiths Email: thesec@abavic.org.au nExhibitn

The Blacksmiths’ Tree stands behind the Peter Avola Memorial Pavilion, 160 Chadds Creek Road, Strathewen, Victoria, Australia. The Blacksmiths’ Tree is lit every night after sunset. The main structure is forged stainless steel. The trunk, thought to be the longest forged taper in the world was forged under a 1915 Davey press at Overall Forge in Albury, NSW. The 12 main branches were forged by members of the Australian Blacksmiths

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Welded Art PHOTOGRAPHIC Exhibition – IIW 2023 Digital Collection