STRIKING IRON: FORGING: THE BLACKSMITH'S TOOLS
Forging: The Blacksmith’s Tools
Narrated by lead curator Tom Joyce
Photograph by Tom Joyce, Yohohou, Togo, 2008, © Tom Joyce; video by Peter Kirby © Fowler Museum at UCLA; video from Yohohou, Togo, 2008 and Tcharé, Togo, 2010, courtesy of VoxLox Media; video by Anne-Marie Bouttiaux, Kunima, Burkina Faso, 2012, and Indieli-Na and Konko, Mali, 2011, © Anne-Marie Bouttiaux, courtesy of Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; excerpt from Dokwaza: Last of the African Iron Masters, 1988, video by D. Paul Morris, Nicholas David, and Yves Le Bleis, courtesy of Nicholas David; excerpt from Black Hephaistos: Exploring Culture and Science in African Iron Working, 1995, video by Nicholas David, courtesy of Nicholas David
A video tour narrated by Tom Joyce, Striking Iron’s lead curator, is offered at various stops throughout the exhibition. Joyce is an artist and MacArthur Fellow trained in the art of forging iron. Drawing on his hands-on experience and insights into the techniques and stylistic specificities of African blacksmiths, he helps us look closely at a selection of remarkable objects. Joyce has done fieldwork in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, and the Republic of Bénin, and brings three decades of research into African ironworks to his narrations.
The video tour was produced by Peter Kirby on behalf of the Fowler Museum at UCLA.