THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF TECHNICIANS OF THE MICHELANGELO FOUNDATION
While the Venice Biennale acts as a concentrated physical anchor, the Michelangelo Foundation extends its reach throughout the year through the Homo Faber Guide. With a network of over 100 partner institutions, the digital directory maps leading artisans, ateliers and independent makers in more than 50 countries and six continents. Rather than keeping the craft locked to regional markets, the platform allows contemporary designers, architects and collectors to locate, engage and commission work directly from global creators. For Cavalli, expanding this network is about recognizing specific, local knowledge. “Wherever we go we try to give value to the local genius places, to the spirit of the place that represents the true soul and identity of the regions,” he says, “that the artisans know how to express in the purest and most authentic way.”
This digital network is implemented on the ground through the Homo Faber in Città program, which runs alongside the main event. Throughout September, local Venetian workshops listed in the online guide open their studio doors directly to the public. Using interactive routes provided on the foundation’s platform, visitors can look beyond the central exhibition spaces to navigate the ecosystem of Venice.
Caterina Roma, craftsman, and Mili Couto, partner | image ©Mar Puig Soler
BUILDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR TOMORROW’S ARTISTS
Connecting these global manufacturers is only part of the equation. Ensuring that their transactions remain economically viable requires heavy social infrastructure. An economy oriented towards rapid turnover constantly threatens the slow, methodical transmission of knowledge. To address this, the foundation developed the Homo Faber Fellowship, a program that funds international mobility by placing young talent in a master’s workshop for six months of rigorous on-the-job training. “With the homo Faber scholarship, as expected, we give a specific help both to craftsmen who want to pass on their know-how and to young talents who want to start working but still need to learn.” says Cavali. “We offer them real opportunities and many advantages, such as the month-long masterclass dedicated to improving their knowledge of finance, intellectual property, design, etc. Skills that will be fundamental to their future activities.”
This investment in the next generation is brought directly to the biennale floor through the Young Ambassadors program. During the exhibition, promising design and applied arts students move to Venice, living together as a community for a month. They act as the public-facing voices of the event, guiding visitors through the installations and explaining the intricate techniques behind the objects. Cavalli sees this direct engagement as a critical tool for keeping new creatives in the industry. Their immersion in the event, he explains, enables them “to understand how strong is the love people have for art and human talent.”
Simone Crestani, craftsman | image © Alberto Parise
CRAFTSMANSHIP AS A PHYSICAL NEED IN AN AUTOMATED AGE
For the Michelangelo Foundation, craftsmanship is not just about preserving the past, it is a natural necessity. Even as digital processes dominate modern manufacturing, the friction between maker and raw material remains fundamental to our humanity. Cavalli points to the French critic Henri Focillon to explain this, noting that the hands are “the most valuable instruments of knowledge and understanding.” The tactile act of shaping materials is an innate movement. It allows us to project our identity to our surroundings, turning a general space into a home. “When hands touch the material, we are allowed to look into the future,” Cavalli explains, “Because we can ‘see’ what this material can become, how our talent can transform it, how our senses can be awakened and empowered by the direct encounter with the materials.”
This physical reality separates high craftsmanship from typical industrial production. While machines easily achieve flawless, even execution, they are not intended to. True craftsmanship requires more than technical precision, it needs an underlying soul. “A cold and merciless efficiency is not synonymous with artisanal excellence: many machines can achieve it”, says Cavali. A master acts as the sophisticated interpreter of a work. To possess a valuable material memory, he insists, an object “it must be done with joy and purpose, above skill and expertise.”
Gabriela de Sagarminaga, artisan | image via Michelangelo Foundation © all rights reserved
This mindset directly shapes how the institution approaches the collision of ancient techniques and modern digital fabrication. They do not reject new technology, rather they see it as a tool to be consciously managed by the “thinking hand”. Implemented correctly, digital tools eliminate tedious work and save resources, buying artisans time to focus on their specialized techniques. But technology is never neutral. “The intelligent hand is what moves everything, and if technology can give it a more effective range, it is a perfect evolution of the history of tools.” Cavalli claims. ‘But if technology is turning us into strange tools, devoid of all intuition and taste, then we believe that Homo Faber can suggest a way to restore human talent to the center of the conversation.”
