IronNotes. Forged Narratives: Art, Memory, and Material in Contemporary Blacksmithing

In a time when objects are in constant revaluation, we ask:
What is an object today?
How do we define and categorize it?
Where does function end and metaphor begin?
What do we need in order to recognize something as an object?
From ornament to tool, from vessel to body-related form, objects structure human life. Yet their meanings are never fixed. Within the Metal and Art Jewellery Subject Area at KHIO, questioning the object — its format, scale, function, symbolism, and philosophical dimensions — forms a core pedagogical and artistic concern. IRON NOTES extends this investigation into a public arena. 


Seminar 15–16 April: 09:00–14:00
The symposium gathers professional speakers alongside a discussion forum, offering a broad overview of the development of contemporary blacksmithing in Europe and Scandinavia. Each invited artist has been selected for their professional trajectory, technical mastery, and distinctive artistic voice. Their work and function represent central thematic strands of the event:
- Memory, History, and Traditions – How inherited techniques and cultural narratives are preserved, challenged, or transformed.
- Inventiveness in Material – How experimentation and technical innovation expand the expressive vocabulary of iron.
- Sources of Inspiration – Personal, political, environmental, and philosophical impulses shaping contemporary practice.
The seminar positions blacksmithing not only as craft, but as critical artistic practice — where forging becomes a method of thinking, and material becomes narrative.

Please note!
The event requires advance registration by emailing Prof. Jorge Manilla at jorgnava@khio.no


Program
Wednesday 15th April – Auditorium KHIO
08:30 Registration – Coffee
09:00 Welcome and Introduction by Prof. Jorge Manilla, Markus Degerman, Hanna Gjelten Hattrem
09:45 From One Small Bird to a Swarm – Artistic Practice Across Scales and Spaces by Toril Bonsanken, Artist
10:30 Balancing Gravity (Everything is in there) by Kristine Sandoy, Artist
11:15 Coffee Break

11:35 From anvil to adornment; the poetry of iron by Carin EM Reinders, Director CODA Museum, Apeldoorn
12:20 Students presentations
13:00 Lunch break

14:00 WORKSHOPS. Please note that the workshops have limited capacity and participants will register on site.
- Sketching with wire by Antti Nieminen (Blackmithing  Workshop KHIO)
- Sculpting in Sand, Casting in Light by Johannes Vemren Rygh  (Metal workshop)
- Pressing Ideas – between the positive and negative by Heiner Zimmerman (Metal workshop)
18:00 Opening Exhibitions – Gallery Seilduken, Katedralen, Reception Gallery
Welcome words by Prof. Jorge Manilla  – Gallery Seilduken 18:00
Music Performance – Niord Alexander Hauge Sund
21:00 Social Gathering – Akers Mek All participants are welcome


Thursday 16 April – Auditorium KHIO
08:30 Coffee
09:00 Camilla Low, Visual Artist
09:45 Mittens and other stories by Eija Mustonen, Artist & Development Specialist, LAB  University af Applied Sciences
10:30 The ferrous beast and the toolness of things by Tobias Birgersson, Artist
11:15 Coffee Break

11:35 Raw Blocks of Black Iron by Nils Hint, Artist
12:20 Forged by Women by Ada Nilsen, Mia Veen, Madelen Isa Lindgren
13:00 Lunch break

14:00 WORKSHOPS. Please note that the workshops have limited capacity and participants will register on site.
- Sketching with wire by Antti Nieminen (Blacksmithing Workshop KHIO)
- Sculpting in Sand, Casting in Light by Johannes Vemren Rygh (Metal workshop)
- Pressing Ideas – between the positive and negative by Heiner Zimmerman (Metal workshop)
18:00  Closing Performance – Katedralen Khio
21:00 – 23:00 Social Gathering – Akers Mek 
All participants are welcome


Exhibitions 15–16 April
KHIO will host three exhibitions presenting works by Iron Notes project members, students, invited artists, and special guests. Together, they form a layered landscape of approaches to objects, jewellery, korpus, and sculpture.

The exhibitions aim to provide a comprehensive yet dynamic view of contemporary iron-based practices in Scandinavia. Rather than presenting iron as a closed tradition, they reveal it as a responsive, evolving field — intimate, architectural, political, and poetic.

15 April 18:00 – Performance Seilduken Gallery
16 April 18:00 – Closing Performance – Katedralen KHIO

Exhibition 1: IRON NOTES — Forging Memory, Crafting Futures – Katedralen
Exhibition 2: IRON NOTES — Networks of Fire and Form – Reception Gallery
Exhibition 3: IRON NOTES — Tangible Heritage in Contemporary Iron – Gallery seilduken


What is IronNotes? 
New needs in a rapidly changing society, also challenges old craft trades, such as blacksmithing, to reflect, adapt and re-invent their roles in society. At the Borders of Iron (IronNotes) project aims to strengthen the cultural heritage of blacksmithing; as a skill-demanding craft, it is one of those rare professions and traditions about to disappear without further action.​
With a strong background in metalworks and blacksmithing this network brings together artists,
creators, designers, producers and educators from five different countries with different kinds of events to broaden the view of the use of metal in the society today. The consortium seeks to find ways to strengthen the awareness of blacksmithing tradition, its possibilities to enhance regionality and co-operation between countries. With different types of measures, the aim is to open the role of metal also to broader audiences with themes that link people with this special material culture.

The Project is Co-funded by the European Union under the Creative Europe Programme.