With the continued support of long-term partner Jaeger-LeCoultre, a new international edition of the Homo Faber Fellowship launched in Venice during Homo Faber 2024: The Journey of Life.

For this second edition, 23 selected duos, 13 of which are international pairings, have come together to practice 18 different crafts. Developed with partners from the Michelangelo Foundation’s network and supported by long-term partner Jaeger-LeCoultre, the Homo Faber Fellowship includes a one-month creative and entrepreneurial masterclass developed and certified by ESSEC Business School and Passa Ao Futuro at the International University of Art in Venice and a six-month placement in a master artisan’s workshop in one of 9 participating countries across Europe, culminating in a co-creation project for each duo. 

Meet the duos

The Homo Faber Fellowship aims not only to help an emerging artisan take the first steps towards a career in craft and ensure the future of a master artisan’s workshop, but also to have a lasting impact on the futures of different crafts. With this in mind, the selection jury chose artisan duos whose crafts are closely linked to a territory, some who are the last guardians of their crafts in their home countries, others who are offering new solutions to environmental concerns and many more.

Delve into the stories of the chosen duos and discover those united by a sustainable approach to their practise, others who share a love for the heritage crafts they practise and wish to protect, some who are guardians of rare crafts and others who specialise in creation for haute couture items. Get a glimpse into the talented duos and their passions with our series of themed press stories. Hear about Oliver Hymans and Ash Appadu, a British duo practising the endangered craft of puppet making; Luis Mínguez Serrano and Gonzalo Mínguez Mínguez, a father-and-son duo in Spain seeking to protect a local and family heritage of bookbinding; Ole Morten Rokvam and Line Blom Salvesen a Norwegian duo using wood firing techniques to create ceramics. Learn about the different cultural backgrounds of numerous multi-national duos: Manuel Mazzotti and Chihiro Shigemitsu, an Italian and Japanese duo based in London; and Encarnación Berrio López and Anastacia Juana Gómez González, a Spanish and Mexican duo based in Spain.

The 23 duos of master artisans and fellows participating in this second edition are:

CYPRUS
Woodworking: Navid Gholipour, Iranian & Natali Touloupou, Australian/Cypriot

FRANCE
Felting: Laurine Malengreau, Belgian & Emma Fardeau
Glassblowing: Eve George & Alexandra Holmes, British
Leatherworking: Pierre Roux & Cristina Alvarez Matallana, Colombian
Textile creation : Cecile Feilchenfeldt, Swiss & Karla Huff, German
Wood marquetry: Pierre-Henri Beyssac & Victoire Camus

GREECE
Ceramics: Vanessa Anastasopoulou & Aikaterini Sara Batistatou Textile dyeing: Christiana Vardakou & Paolina Bumeder, German Weaving: Maria Stavropoulou & Ella Solberg, Norwegian

IRELAND
Blacksmithing: James O'Riordan & Michal Halvoník, Czech
Lacemaking: Fiona Harrington & Jack O' Meara
Stone carving: Helen O'Connell & Finn Conlon

NORWAY
Basket weaving: Liss Mona Wammer-Pettersen & Coline Bouquin, French
Ceramics: Ole Morten Rokvam & Line Blom Salvesen
Woodworking: Stian Korntved Ruud & Marianne Bain

POLAND
Embroidery: Alicja Stańska & Alicja Kozłowska
PORTUGAL
Tapestry weaving: Célia Esteves & Erica Monteiro

SPAIN
Bookbinding: Luis Mínguez Serrano & Gonzalo Mínguez Mínguez
Embroidery: Encarnación Berrio López & Anastacia Juana Gómez González, Mexican
Wood sculpting: Víctor García Villalgordo & Juan Manuel Juárez Cabello
Woodworking: Francisco Luis Martos Sánchez & Florencia Iracema Olivera Mutuberria, Uruguayan

UNITED KINGDOM
Bookbinding: Manuel Mazzotti, Italian & Chihiro Shigemitsu, Japanese
Puppet making: Oliver Hymans & Ash Appadu

About Jaeger-LeCoultre: The Watchmaker of Watchmakers™ 

Since 1833, driven by an unquenchable thirst for innovation and creativity, and inspired by the peaceful natural surroundings of its home in the Vallée de Joux, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been distinguished by its mastery of complications and the precision of its mechanisms. Known as the Watchmaker of Watchmakers™, the Manufacture has expressed its relentlessly inventive spirit through the creation of more than 1,400 different calibres and the award of more than 430 patents. Harnessing 190 years of accumulated expertise, La Grande Maison’s watchmakers design, produce, finish and ornament the most advanced and precise mechanisms, blending passion with centuries-old savoir-faire, linking the past to the future, timeless but always up with the times. With 180 skills brought together under one roof, the Manufacture creates fine timepieces that combine technical ingenuity with aesthetic beauty and a distinctively understated sophistication. jaeger-lecoultre.com

About Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship

The Foundation is a non-profit institution based in Geneva, which champions contemporary craftspeople worldwide with the aim of promoting a more human, inclusive and sustainable future. The Foundation seeks to highlight the connections between craft and the wider arts and the design world. Its mission is to both celebrate and preserve craftsmanship and its diversity of makers, materials and techniques, by increasing craft’s everyday recognition and its viability as a professional path for the next generations. The Foundation presents Homo Faber, a cultural movement centred on creative artisans worldwide. Its signature projects are education programmes for the next generations, an international biennial celebration and an online guide. homofaber.com michelangelofoundation.org

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