#150mmchallenge
(touring exhibition)
13th - 27th September 2025
The #150 mm Challenge celebrates the diverse applications of forged steel. The project was conceived by Ambrose Burne as a way to materialise the plasticity of forged metal in a discrete object made from a small metal bar to show to potential customers (150mm x 20mm x 20mm). Burne shared the exercise with Artist Blacksmithing Degree students at Hereford College of Arts, challenging them to distil the essence of their emerging practices into material form. Through sharing the results of this task on social media the project went viral and became a phenomenon with contributions of objects from the blacksmithing community worldwide. This culminated in an exhibition produced by Del Done MBE that has toured Europe and America. The exhibition features work by master-smiths, students and amateurs of the craft and displays a vast array of the possibilities of forged steel from figurative and abstract sculptures through to functional tools.
Artwork by Monica Kjellman-Chapin (Norway)
Photo by Oliver Cameron Swann
