About the collection.

Ironworking in Africa began twenty-three to twenty-four hundred years ago, in a number of widely spread areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. The complex technology of the craft may have been discovered in these different areas, or it may have been imported from North Africa or from Egypt. In any case, the use of iron spread rapidly among the various people in the vastness of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The jewelry, weapons, masks, and other objects that were created were diverse and unique, and reflected local stylistic traditions as well as the blacksmith’s skill and imagination. The people who used these tools understood that the blacksmith had not only a great understanding of the complexities or iron technology, but also had a magical power to combine craft and art in order to produce these objects.

In 1999, a collection of metalworking objects was acquired by the Canadian Museum of Making, in order to preserve the pieces. Since then, we have added many pieces and now have over 700 objects in the museum. We have carefully documented and preserved the tools, and in doing so, we hope to tell a story about the person or people who created and used them.