Rare Trades: 2. Tinsmithing

John Yard demonstrates the ancient trade of tinsmithing in this film, which was made by cinematographer Kim Batterham, producer Graeme Isaac and director Mark Thomson, as part of the National Museum of Australia’s Rare Trades exhibition. We acknowledge the NMA’s assistance in bringing these clips to you.

Rare Trades: 1. Bookbinding

The Institute of Backyard Studies is proud to present a series of short films on some of the rare trades which are fast disappearing in the modern world. The films, originally made by Institute Director Mark Thomson with producer Graeme Isaac and renowned cinematographer Kim Batterham to accompany an exhibition on Rare Trades presented by the National Museum of Australia, will be posted on the site one by one over the next few weeks. The first one features the art of traditional hand bookbinding as practised by Daphne Lera, and coming soon will be films on sawmaking, stonemasonry, coachbuilding, shoemaking, millinery, scroll painting – and more. Check the site every week or so for new films.

We look forward to your comments on the films, and any suggestions for other rare manually skilled trades which the Institute might investigate in future.