by Doria Ark
Since 2018, the Michelangelo Foundation has transformed Venice into a beacon of artisanal excellence with Homo Faber, its biennial celebration of craftsmanship. In 2025, from 7th to 13th April, the Foundation returns with a new edition that promises to be even more ambitious – more international, more immersive, and more committed to the transmission of the crafts.
Homo Faber 2025: A Living Transmission
From 7th to 13th April 2025, the Giorgio Cini Foundation on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore will once again serve as the stage where artisanal skills are revealed, where the artisan and the observer engage in a subtle, knowing exchange, a scene where creation becomes a dialogue between what has been and what is yet to come.
Homo Faber is not merely a biennial event, it is an experience to be visited and explored as though it were a manifesto. It is a declaration of love to the hands that shape, the minds that preserve, and the creators who imbue every detail with meaning.
Rather than confining the crafts to a nostalgic vision, the 2025 edition celebrates their evolution, their capacity to adapt and reinvent themselves without ever losing their essence. Transmission is the thread that binds generations—a dialogue that never ceases.
“What we do is not limited to technique. It is a dialogue with time, with the material, and with those who will follow us,” says Surya Mathew, former Young Ambassador of Homo Faber and now a renowned jeweller.
This idea permeates the entire 2025 edition, where heritage and innovation intertwine in an immersive presentation, building on the work initiated with Luca Guadagnino in 2024.
The experience will be all-encompassing: not a static exhibition, but a journey, a series of encounters. Master artisans at work, open workshops, creations unfolding before the public’s eyes. Venice, with its shifting reflections, silent palaces, and hidden ateliers, provides the ideal setting for this celebration of gesture and creativity.
Venice, the Beating Heart of Craftsmanship
Venice has always been a city of artisans. From Murano with its glassblowers, to Burano with its lacemakers, and the inlayers, gilders, and cabinetmakers who for centuries have endowed the city with its myriad hues and textures—Homo Faber is rooted in this legacy while gazing firmly towards the future.
On San Giorgio Maggiore, visitors will be invited to cross the threshold of the ateliers, to witness the birth of objects that are not mere artefacts but fragments of eternity. They will encounter artisans who whisper to the materials, imbuing them with a soul, and who conceive their creations as testimonies to the passage of time.
The Homo Faber Guide: A Map of the World of Craftsmanship
Craftsmanship is not a museum piece, it lives, it travels, and it is shared. In this spirit, the Michelangelo Foundation has developed the Homo Faber Guide, an app that catalogues exceptional artisans from around the globe.
Whether one is in Paris, Tokyo or Marrakech, a few simple clicks allow you to discover a master ceramist, a jeweller, or a cabinetmaker, to make contact, arrange a visit, and understand their creative process. This guide is not merely a list; it is an invitation to explore, to meet, and to look beyond the shopfronts to the most precious element of all: the moment of creation.
Whether one is in Paris, Tokyo or Marrakech, a few simple clicks allow you to discover a master ceramist, a jeweller, or a cabinetmaker, to make contact, arrange a visit, and understand their creative process. This guide is not merely a list; it is an invitation to explore, to meet, and to look beyond the shopfronts to the most precious element of all: the moment of creation.
The Fellowship: Nurturing a New Generation – Transmission cannot exist without those who come after. This is why the Homo Faber Fellowship programme occupies a central role in this edition.
Twenty-five young talents, chosen for their commitment and vision, will be mentored by master artisans across Europe. Before embarking on this adventure, they will spend a month in a masterclass in Seville, where they will learn not only the craft but also its history, management, and how to enliven their art in an ever-changing world.
“Learning a craft is not merely about acquiring a technique. It is about understanding a rhythm, a patience, a relationship with time that runs counter to contemporary immediacy,” notes a former participant.
Surya Mathew: Jewellery as a Language
Among the defining figures of Homo Faber, Surya Mathew embodies the transmission of knowledge and the search for meaning. Trained at the École Boulle, he first encountered Homo Faber in 2018 as a Young Ambassador and soon realised that craftsmanship transcends technical mastery.
“When I arrived in Venice, I believed that craft was solely about technique. I soon discovered that it was so much more—a way of imbuing life with meaning,” he confides.
Today, his Paris-based jewellery house reflects this philosophy, straddling two cultures and two eras. In 2025, he returns to Venice with a collection inspired by water and glass—a tribute to the city that nurtured his artistic growth. It is not merely a return; it is a circle closing and, at the same time, the opening of a new path. For Venice is never an ordinary destination. In April 2025, it will become the crossroads where gazes meet, where the role of craftsmanship in our lives is questioned, and where objects are restored to their true essence. Whether you are a collector, an artist, a designer or simply curious, Homo Faber 2025 promises a total aesthetic experience.
