Hefaiston 30 - A Symposium of Blacksmith Talent from Around the World

Our contact in Helfstyn, Czech Republic was a man named Honza Lauro, the director of the Hefaiston Festival for the last ten or so years. Honza assured us that getting to the castle would be very easy since a shuttle would be waiting for us at the train station in the town of Lipnik when we arrived after the three-hour journey from Prague. Ever the optimists, this assurance was more than enough for Andrew Molinaro, Patrick Weiss, and me when we were arranging our travel to the Hefaiston blacksmith festival 72 hours before the opening ceremonies.  With this information, we booked our flights to Prague and set out on our journey to the Helfstyn Castle in Helfstyn, Czech Republic.

Exhibition space in the castle's main courtyard.

Every year for the last thirty, a blacksmith festival called Hefaiston has been held at the Hrad Helfstyn or Helfstyn Castle. Alfred Habermann and others put the original festival together in 1981 to showcase the talents of blacksmiths throughout Europe.  The event is comprised of a two-day forging competition as well as an exhibition of works from around the globe.  In the week leading up to the public exhibition and festival every year a team of smiths is selected to design and execute a piece to be exhibited on the castle grounds as part of their ever growing permanent collection of forged sculpture.

This past year, over 400 blacksmiths from around the world made the pilgrimage to the tiny village in eastern Czech Republic and up the steep mountain upon which the Helfstyn castle sits to compete, exhibit, share ideas, and meet with their peers from around the globe. 

Some of the main competition area.

When the train dropped us off at the station in Lipnik we exited the doors expecting to find our shuttle waiting for us but found nothing except a small hut selling 18 varieties of seltzer water, and everyone knows that nothing quenches the thirst of a weary traveler quite like water that’s salted and carbonated. After about twenty minutes of standing around and trying to communicate with a Czech bus driver in a combination of hand gestures and broken German, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we may be taking a very long and confusing walk guided by hunches. Luckily, a shirtless man who was sleeping on the ground next to us arose from his afternoon nap and explained that he learned some English during his time as an illegal alien in England before getting deported. He went on to tell us that he would be happy to sell us some narcotics and/or lead us into town to grab a bus. We chose the latter.  For his services, we agreed on a fee of 50 crowns and set off apprehensively. True to his word, Erik led us to a bus station where we caught a bus with some Italian smiths to the base of Hrad Helfstyn. On the way to the castle, we saw some women swimming in the river wearing nothing but their smiles; things were looking up!

After a considerable hike up to the gates of the castle loaded down with gear and tooling, we finally made it into the festival and met Honza. He had everything arranged for us and even drove us down to our accommodation in a woman’s house down the mountain. She was a nice woman, or at least she smiled at us while shouting at us in Czech.  She was even nice enough to clean up Andrew’s blood after we smashed her glass door into pieces on the second night of our stay. What a gem!

We make our morning ascent to the festival.

The festival itself was incredible. The 700-year-old castle seemed a perfect venue in every way. For two days the courtyards, balconies, halls, and towers that make up Hrad Helfstyn became exhibition space for iron art from throughout the world. Everywhere you looked, you found a sculpture, decoration, or architectural sample that highlighted the skills and design ability of its author. Everyone brought his or her best work, and it showed. Some of the pieces in the exhibition showed the movement and plasticity of the material in a way I never envisioned. Inspiration; check!

Prior to leaving the States, Andrew and I agreed on a couple of rules regarding the forging competition. Rule number one: we would create something that involved components we were used to forging. Rule number two: we would design something that we knew we could finish in the allotted two hours. 

On the plane ride over we came up with the perfect competition piece design; two figures in a tug of war signifying the struggle in Libya. It was great design in every way except for two; we had never made any part of it before, and it was probably way too ambitious to be completed in two hours. No problem though. In typical American fashion, we ignored reason and logic and acted simply upon our "delusions of grandeur". And we completed a very cool competition piece.....in just four hours! It was great experience though, and I have to say I was still pretty pleased with the end result considering we had all never competed together before. 

Andrew, Pat, and I with our completed competition piece.

Our nights were filled with meeting smith after smith from all over Europe, some of which I hope to know for the rest of my life. There were Erik, Mia, Niko, and Henke from Sweden, Gregor and Bruno form Slovenia, Tobias from Germany, and many others. All of which were welcoming and hospitable. On Saturday night, we were regaled with tales of European adventures over tray after tray of Slilovice shots (some sort of cinnamon flavored Czech vodka). The table sat in silence as Tobias gave his first-hand account of the Berlin wall coming down four feet from where he stood.  Somehow this was a little more powerful than reading it in my tenth grade history book. We again went totally silent as Erik described going down in the North Sea in a steel-hulled boat following a four-year circumnavigation of the earth.

Artists from all over the world sharing beers and stories.

After the festival ended, we made it back to Prague with enough time for a six-hour rush exploration of city. More than a few people have told me that Prague must be the most beautiful city in the world. It did not disappoint.  Walking around Prague felt like walking around in an Alphonse Mucha painting or in and out of a Victor Horta building over and over.  The Art Nouveau influence over the city was apparent in every detail, every railing, every window frame, every piece of molding.

Some architecture in Prague.

When we got back to the states, it was a relief to be done traveling, but I felt a significant cultural void. The Hefaiston festival and the city of Prague were tremendously inspirational in separate, but equally important ways. I wondered when I would be able to get back so I could see everything again with the eyes of a more experienced artist.  About a week after getting back, we got a facebook message from Honza asking if Andrew, Pat, and myself would like to come back next year for a slightly longer stay. Somehow, we had been selected to participate in the Blacksmith’s Forum of 2012. We would be able to stay in the castle for a week and create a sculpture for the castle’s permanent collection. Feeling humbled and slightly intimidated Andrew decided we would accept the honor, so it looks like we will be back sooner than I thought! Since I am in no way qualified for an honor like this, I am just thrilled to play a small role in the creation of a piece for this great event. I am sure that whatever Andrew comes up with will do the tradition justice and give American smiths a small corner in the collection of Hrad Helfstyn. See you next year, Czech Republic!

And now for a generous montage of photos!

View of the castle wall.

The piece created in the 2011 Blacksmith's Forum.

Andrew doing the one heat draw out competition.

Created in 2009 by Claudio Bottero for the Blacksmith's forum.

Great facial expression! 

The stand for our competition piece.

The forge in Helfstyn Castle designed by Alfred Habermann 

Some of the competition pieces.

"Two Birds" by Kheir Aker and Eyad Khlaily from Israel.

There's our finished piece!

Smiths from nine different countries sharing a few pints together.

Kheir and I working on some designs on a train back to Prague. He speaks very little English and I didn't know a word of Hebrew so we just drew to communicate.