page_title: Albacete
section_title: Crafts
hierarchical_section_title: Albacete / Culture and art / Crafts
caption_attribution_description: English: Navaja Artesanal represents artisans who are the acknowledged masters’ cutlers of Albacete. These cutlers have the Master Craftsman Certificate issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Castilla La Mancha, which recognizes the experience and knowledge of the artisan. In many cases, their work has won awards in competitions like the Regional Cutlery organized by APRECU, and have been part of numerous international travelling exhibitions or are in important public and private collections worldwide, including the Museum’s permanent collection of Cutlery in Albacete. Some of these masters are part of the second or third generation of craftsmen who have inherited the manufacturing techniques. Others have been their apprentices or are self-taught, but they all have in common not only the methods of construction, but also a recognition of this work by fellow professionals in this area. Español: Los artesanos que Navaja Artesanal representa son los más reconocidos maestros cuchilleros de Albacete. Estos cuchilleros son poseedores del certificado de Maestro Artesano expedido por la Consejería de Industria y Comerio de Castilla La Mancha, que reconoce la experiencia y el conocimiento de los artífices. En muchos casos sus piezas han sido premiadas en concursos como el Regional de Cuchillería organizado por APRECU y han formado parte de numerosas muestras itinerantes internacionales o se encuentran en importantes colecciones públicas y privadas de todo el mundo, como la permanente del Museo de la Cuchillería de Albacete. Algunos de estos maestros forman parte de la segunda o tercera generación de artesanos de su estirpe y han heredado las técnicas de fabricación de sus familiares directos. Otros han sido aprendices de estos o son autodidactas, pero tienen en común no sólo los procesos de creación, sino también el reconocimiento de sus obras por parte de los profesionales del medio, al hacerse evidente en la ejecución de las piezas su belleza y maestría.
context_page_description: Albacete is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete.
  Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llanos. Halfway between Madrid and the Mediterranean coast, it enjoys connections by motorway, railway, and air. With a population of 173,329, it is the largest municipality of Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality of Albacete is also the seventh-largest in Spain by total area, being 1,125.91 km². Albacete is the seat to the regional High Court of Justice.
  The origins of the city are uncertain, with the earliest proof of settlement dating to the time of Al-Andalus, when the settlement was originally named البسيط, meaning "The Flat" in Arabic, referring to the flat land around. Albacete was the main headquarters of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.
  Part of the historic region of La Mancha, Albacete has a reputation as producer of clasp knives. Its flat area and the removal of architectural barriers have reportedly made it one of the most accessible cities across the country.
context_section_description: Albacete craftsmanship is closely linked to the knife since the fifteenth century, and features a wide variety of ways that relate to their specific use. The typical Albacete knife has a spring mechanism or ratchet that differentiates it from the rest. The passing of time has shaped and diversified manufacturing the same, leading to the production of scissors, knives, daggers and scalpels for medicine.
  Currently the knife industry has modernized and moved largely to the industrial areas of the city, competing with the Asian market. From the union between Albacete and cutlery is the saying that "the knife from Albacete not give away, the friend sold at a symbolic price, so do not cut friendship". The history of Albacete cutlery can be visited at the Museum of Cutlery. Craft fairs as the Craft Fair of Castilla–La Mancha or Artisan Cutlery Albacete Fair are held annually in the capital of Albacete.
caption: Albacete typical craft knife.
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