BLACKSMITHS • Nomadic Metal Toolmakers

There were a couple of families working as a loose collective on the side of the road on the outskirts of Kannur, India. The womens’ main job, supporting tool creation, was to keep the fire at the right temperature by turning a air blowing device. Both men and women stood (for hours) swinging hammers down, shaping the metal blades. A few of the men had the (nicer) job of directing the strikers hammers in crafting the blades. The blacksmiths put coal in shallow dug out pits and then heated up metal bars to be shaped as needed.

Comments are closed.