(4 Sep 2017) LEADIN:
Blacksmiths from around the world are facing off at a fiery metal work contest in Stia, Italy.
But it's not all competition - the artists are also ensuring their skilled craft remains relevant, even in the 21st century.
STORYLINE:
In Stia, a small village in central Tuscany, over 200 blacksmiths have gathered for the XXII Biennial of Forge Art.
At its centre is an international blacksmith championship, now in its eighth edition.
Students, experienced blacksmiths and artists are closely gathered around 12 fiery forges, hammering away to create an original piece of metal work.
The theme for this edition is 'Dreams.'
Competitors are from all over the globe, but particularly central and Eastern Europe where there's a strong tradition of forgery that dates back centuries.
Alfred Pedersen is a 27-year-old blacksmithing student from Norway.
"As a student, I'm just starting that last year of my bachelor degree in blacksmithing, artist blacksmithing, to get to rub shoulders with some of the most talented and experienced people of all levels of the profession, from old to young to middle of their height, it's an amazing experience," he says.
"To forge and compete with and amongst them, it's unlike anything I can really experience, it's just so much fun."
There are only a few rules: competitors have just three hours, no electric welding or other modern tools, just forges, clamps, anvils and mallets.
Despite the wet weather, spectators are here to watch the master craftsmen at work.
Competitor Zeevik Gotlieb from Israel is in a confident mood having won the contest back in 2009.
"When you get into blacksmithing, you can't stop, you cannot stop doing it because it's addictive," he says.
"You take a cold piece of metal, you heat it up, you forge it with your hammer, it changes dimension, and it becomes a beautiful piece, sculpture or furniture, or a piece of a railing or a gate.
"People used to do it for ages and it's almost disappeared with all the revolutions that happened within the industry, but it's coming back and it has to stay with a lot of art involved with it."
Despite living in an era of mass production - with automation and 3D printers, for instance - competitors believe their craft will survive.
"We can see, many people of my generation starting to be a little disillusioned with this modernistic ideals all the time, we can start to see that within these crafts, blacksmithing, wood carving and other methods of working with your hands, we're starting to see more of a great resurgence," says Pedersen.
"There is this sense of we cannot discount, we cannot ignore and lose all the knowledge that led us here, all the skills that led us here, because there's still a place where we can learn from it."
Stia boasts a long tradition of metal work.
In the nearby mountains, dozens of finely-carved steel idols date back to the Etruscan age (around the sixth century BC).
And, according to Maria Gemma Bendoni, president of Associazione Autonoma Arte Fabbrile, there's a future to the art of forging too.
"Forty years have passed since the birth of the biennale and even if a big evolution was made the working techniques are still traditional," she says.
"Blacksmiths coped with the evolution and they are able to create artefacts meant to satisfy the tastes of the 21st century."
The international jury eventually awarded Italian blacksmith Fabrizio Boccinger with gold for his creation, named 'Dream.'
Boccinger was not present at the award ceremony to accept his medal.
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