The sound of the hammer on the anvil is being heard less and less. Blacksmith workshops, once among the busiest places in towns and villages, are now being left lifeless. A lack of work, emigration and the shrinking of agricultural activity are pushing this old trade toward extinction. For 36 years, Pëllumb Cangoja has worked iron in his workshop in Elbasan, trying to keep alive the profession he inherited from his father.
The craftsman from Elbasan says blacksmithing is not learned only at school desks, but requires years of work alongside a master. According to him, the lack of a younger generation is making it even harder to preserve this traditional profession.
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“I started this trade when I was 6 years old. I watched the old man and I liked it as a trade, and to this day, now that I am 42 years old, I still work in this profession. As a trade, it is very good, but there isn’t enough work to keep doing it all the time. There is no demand, because if agriculture doesn’t work, it is normal that we do not have work either. Everyone here has completely left, they have all emigrated and, gradually, we are heading toward closing down,” said blacksmith Pëllumb Cangoja.
He says it pains him that such a trade is being lost, even though he would like to pass it on to his children. However, without work and without seeing it up close, he says, the younger generation cannot truly learn this profession.
“Does it pain you that trades like this are heading toward extinction? Very, very much. I would love to pass it on to the kids, but there is no work. How will a child learn it if he does not see me? I saw my father working and I learned it myself. If a child does not see me, he cannot take up this kind of trade,” he added.
In addition to the lack of demand, blacksmiths are also facing indifference from young people, who are turning toward other professions or leaving the country. At the same time, high costs are making it even harder for workshops to survive.
“Is there any interest from young people who come and ask about this trade? There really isn’t much interest, because if agriculture doesn’t work, there is no interest at all. It has been 5 years now that there hasn’t been work like before. Now it is difficult to pay rent, you have to buy coal; everything has to be bought,” Cangoja stressed.
With little work and few successors, blacksmith workshops are struggling to survive. Along with them, an important part of the heritage of Albanian crafts is also at risk of being lost, preserved through generations by the masters who continue to practice this profession.
