JOSÉ ADÁRIO DOS SANTOS
Blacksmith José Adário was born in 1947 in a poor neighborhood of Salvador and was just ten years old when he learned the art of forging iron from his uncle. Adário can make ornamental grates for doors and balconies but makes mostly ferramentas (works of iron) for the religious practice of Candomblé. Today Adário maintains a workshop on the steep cobblestone street, Ladeira de Conceição in Salvador where two of his sons assist him in filling more than 1000 orders for ferramentas each year. The exceptional quality of Adário’s craftsmanship has brought his work to the attention of museum curators, and his ferramentas have been shown in major exhibitions in Salvador, São Paulo and abroad.

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