The association’s Board of Directors has been renewed. A special event will mark its 50th anniversary from September 4th to 6th, 2026, followed by the regular Biennale in 2027.

The European Biennial of Blacksmith Art in Stia begins a new chapter in its history and prepares to celebrate a significant anniversary for the region: the 50th anniversary of the event, which will be celebrated with a special event scheduled for September 4-6, 2026.

Elections for the Board of the Independent Association for the Stia Biennial of Blacksmith Art were held in recent days at the Association’s headquarters in Stia. Members elected the 15 members of the new Board: Maria Gemma Bendoni, Pier Paolo Biagiolini, Jonas Biggeri, Claudia Bresciani, Stefan Carpentier, Michela Cecconi, Laura Cocchetti, Benedetta Della Bordella, Bettina Della Bordella, Sandro Faggioli, Elena Fani, Carlo Gabrielli, Valeria Grofi, Piero Milli, and Mario Sereni.

During the subsequent Board meeting, the newly elected members chose Piero Milli as the new President and confirmed Benedetta Della Bordella as Vice President. Milli succeeds Maria Gemma Bendoni, who led the Association for three terms, from 2014 to 2026. The Association thanks her and the entire board for their work over the years, their dedication to the event’s growth, and their contribution to establishing the Biennale as a key event at the national and international level.

Piero Milli’s appointment comes at a particularly significant time for the Biennale. Milli has been intimately familiar with the event’s history since its inception: as a youth, he was actively involved in the then-Wrought Iron Exhibition, founded in 1976 and later transformed into the International Biennial of Blacksmith Art, which over the years attracted metal sculptors, artists, and master blacksmiths of national and international renown to Stia.

With the introduction of the World Blacksmithing Championship within the Biennale, Piero Milli served on the juries as secretary and coordinated all the conferences held by blacksmiths and industry experts, closely following the evolution of an event that has successfully combined competition, artistic research, artisanal tradition, and openness to the world. Since 2016, he has also served on the Board of Directors of “RING – The Ring of European Cities of Iron Works,” a European network that brings together municipalities and villages linked to the history and culture of ironworking.

The new Board will therefore accompany the Association towards the fiftieth anniversary of the Biennale, with the aim of promoting a history born in the heart of Casentino and grown to become a heritage shared by an international community of blacksmiths, artists, artisans, and enthusiasts.

The 2026 special event will be dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the event: not a regular edition of the Biennale, but a celebratory moment designed to commemorate the journey from 1976 to the present, pay tribute to those who have contributed to its growth, and relaunch Stia’s role as the Italian capital of wrought iron and a meeting place between tradition and innovation.

The last edition, the 26th European Biennale of Blacksmithing, took place in September 2025 and confirmed the event’s appeal, with over 350 blacksmiths in attendance, more than 250 participants in the Blacksmithing Championship, thousands of Italian and international visitors, and a program featuring forges, exhibitions, competitions, meetings, installations, and initiatives throughout the village. This record-breaking edition reaffirmed the value of the Biennale not only as an artistic and artisanal event, but also as an important driver of cultural and tourism promotion for Stia and the Casentino region.

The European project “Iron Notes” continues in 2026, involving the Biennale di Stia and international partners in research, education, and exchange on the artisanal tradition of iron forging and its role in contemporary life. The project will be present at both the special fiftieth anniversary event in 2026 and the next edition of the Biennale, scheduled for September 3–6, 2027, contributing to strengthening the event’s European and international dimension.