Introduction
The Federation International de la Medaille (FIDEM) is the international member-based group for medal makers. Established in 1937, its aims are to promote and diffuse the art of medals world wide, mainly through publications and the organisation of international events. FIDEM organises a congress every two years, and over forty countries including New Zealand take part. Each country is represented by a delegate who maintains regular contact between their fellow artists and the FIDEM community. Our long serving delegate is Christine Massey and she and other MANZ members have been taking part since FIDEM XXII in Helsinki in 1990. Many countries have their own member based groups similar to MANZ and a list of such organisations can be found on the FIDEM website. The most established and active being BAMS (British Art Medal Society) which produces a quarterly publication entitled The Medal.
