Les Forges de Montréal celebrate 20 years!
Montréal, November 16, 2020
It is with great pride and emotion that we announce that Les Forges de Montréal is celebrating its 20th anniversary today! Since our inception, we have worked with passion and resilience to preserve, update and transmit the intangible heritage of traditional blacksmithing to our community.
Our mission was born of two observations: the significant loss of know-how at traditional blacksmithing and the absence of a school to pass it on in Quebec. And yet, traditional blacksmithing offers us the opportunity to make our own tools, reconnect with our roots and project ourselves into a greener future. After all, blacksmithing is a science that has enabled societies to evolve and adapt to their environment, and is a response to today's ecological challenges.
Through the forge, we also forge close ties between members of a community, as witnessed by the ever-growing Forges de Montréal family.
Over the past 20 years, we have been proud to set up a system of workshops for beginner, intermediate and, in partnership with the Conseil des métiers d'art du Québec, professional levels of blacksmithing. We also had the pleasure of inaugurating our permanent exhibition Savoir-FER, presenting for the first time in Montreal the history of the Riverside Pumping Station and forging skills through the ages. We were also fortunate to work with blacksmiths from around the world to recreate ancestral tools, offer specialized workshops and organize sparkling events! In this, our 20th year, we remember every Nuit Blanche as a testament to the fact thatshop is a place to celebrate, whatever the era.
Our warmest thanks go to co-founders Mathieu and Pierre Collette for their passion and determination, to our Board of Directors for their dedicated presence, to the members of our fine team for their hard work, and to you, our audience. Your unwavering support warms our hearts and gives us the energy to carry on. Without you, we couldn't accomplish our mission.
We can't wait for the next part of our story, and we're glad you're part of it.
All the best,
The entire Forges de Montréal team