Ideas forged from wrought iron
- Luca descends from a family of blacksmiths
- He likes to say that he was raised on bread and hammer
- His ambition is to ferry the craft into the future
Luca Mulas’s smithy was started by his grandfather in 1918, when he returned home from World War I. “In a way, it is as if I have been a blacksmith for 100 years,” says Luca. Unlike most of his peers, as a child he spent the summer making his own toys in the family workshop, absorbing the gestures of all the people who came before. “The smells of those long, sweltering days are impressed in my mind: the sweet odour of the coal burning in the forge, the greasy scent of the iron being welded, the tang of the rust-proof paint, the whiff of earth and grass from the farmers coming in to have their tools mended.” Over the years, Luca has integrated the customary production of a smithy – gates, railings, furniture – with personal artistic creations that are strongly influenced by the millennial history of Sardinia.
Interview
- How do you keep tradition alive in your practice?
- I draw on the knowledge and manual skills deriving from techniques that have been handed down through the centuries. I use very traditional tools side by side with modern equipment: progress and heritage do not necessarily have to be antonyms.
- Why did you embrace a more creative approach?
- I believe the need to express oneself is a primeval instinct that is innate in all men and women. Some people paint, some people write, some people play an instrument… And I work with iron.
- What aspect of your work do you particularly enjoy?
- When the spark of inspiration unleashes my enthusiasm, and I feel no fatigue. It is like being in a trance. I have learned to harness this energy and enjoy the moment, alienated from the rest of the world in what you may call my inner silence.
- Do you think that craftsmanship is valued in today’s world?
- There are many people who appreciate the authenticity of craftsmanship. People who like to feel and give emotions. They are not looking for just any object: they want it to have a story, they want to know where it comes from, what inspired it and why.
Luca Mulas is a master artisan: he began his career in 1978 and he started teaching in 2000
Where
Luca Mulas
