omo sapiens or Homo faber? Ask your friends how they define themselves as humans, to which species they belong, and in all probability they will tell you they are Homo sapiens. “Wrong!”, you can reply. “We are Homo faber!”.

To borrow from the French philosopher Henri Bergson, “we should say not Homo sapiens but Homo faber”. Why that? Because our condition as sapiens – our possession of a highly developed brain – has made us Homo faber, capable of using our hand, the ultimate tool, to constantly invent new techniques and create a procession of new objects thanks to new tools.

As another philosopher, Hannah Arendt, reminds us, to speak only of tools, to neglect the difference between labour and work; to focus solely on action – the tool – to the expensive of emotion – work –, is reductive. Hand and mind go together. There cannot be one without the other.

This begs the question, which came first, the head or the hand? Neither. Head and hand have grown together. Homo faber-sapiens.

The fine line between art and craft

This truth about the “intelligence of the hand” is brilliantly demonstrated by the Homo Faber Biennial in Venice (the third edition took place in 2024; the next will be in September 2026). Organised by the Michelangelo Foundation, the event is a gathering of craftsmen and women from around the world, chosen among the more than 6,000 who are currently promoted by the foundation (see below).

Their work is magnificently staged in the vast and ancient spaces of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and its gardens. Nearby, on the other side of the Grand Canal, is the Venice Biennale, one of the most important art institutions in the world. Crossing from one island to the other, the thought that enters our head is: how does art differ from craft?

How, indeed? How great a line is there between the two Biennials? Think how many “artisanal” works stir true artistic emotions. And how many “artworks” exist thanks to the skill and talent of artisans.

Our guide at the Homo Faber Biennial, Corinne Paget-Blanc, Head of Communication at the Michelangelo Foundation, assured us that “many visitors see no difference, no hierarchy, between the two events.” We can be moved to tears by a vase, frightened by a mask, charmed by a bouquet of paper flowers, tickled pink by a chair or transported back to childhood by a toy. These are intrinsically artistic emotions, made more intense by our sheer admiration of the quality of the workmanship on display.

A thematic exhibition, beautifully staged

One of the Homo Faber Biennial’s merits is to subtly lead the eye, thanks to curatorial and artistic direction that connect the more than one thousand objects to the overarching theme. Which is, dare we say, a simple premise: the trajectory that takes us from birth to death, through stages of childhood, celebration, inheritance, love and union, journeys, nature, dreams, dialogues and, finally, afterlife. In sum — and the Biennial’s title —, “The Journey of Life”.

Imagined by film director Luca Guadagnino and Nicolo Rosmarini, the elegant scenography plays with light and shadow, expanses of pleated fabric and thoughtful stagings to form an ideal backdrop, created to allow the individual objects to shine.

Each room elicits a chorus of changing emotions. Each object is woven into the thread that charts this journey through life, and with each object the work of the artisan, cutting, gluing, assembling, weaving, shaping material, is brought to the fore.

The Michelangelo Foundation

The Homo Faber Biennial is the flagship project — the “physical expression” — of the work carried out, year-round, by the Michelangelo Foundation in Geneva. The foundation has assembled a global database of, currently, more than 6,000 craftspeople. Constantly updated and augmented, this digital platform1 is free for anyone to access. It is, says Corinne Paget-Blanc with a smile, “a kind of Michelin Guide, on a relative scale, for craft. It is as much a resource for the public, who can use it to plan a trip around a particular craft in a particular country, for example, as it is a directory for designers, creators, decorators, even museum and exhibition curators, who are looking to source specific or hard-to-find crafts.”

To give some idea of the scale and scope of this database, the 2024 Homo Faber Biennial selected “just” 400 outstanding craftsmen and women, from more than 70 countries.

The Michelangelo Foundation has set itself a mission to provide independent craftspeople with often essential support. In addition to promoting their work to the widest possible audience, it answers their questions, puts them in touch with other artisans as well as potential customers, and offers training in aspects of running a business which are not necessarily “second nature”, such as admin, finances or communication.

The NextGen educational programme

Alongside its digital platform, the Foundation’s second pillar is its educational outreach initiative, NextGen. Divided into two separate programmes, Young Ambassadors and Fellowship, its purpose is to make crafts culturally, economically and socially relevant to young people and help them make a viable career from craft.

Every two years, the Young Ambassadors programme selects 75 art and design students from around the world for a study grant. They spend six weeks in Venice during the Homo Faber Biennial, where they act as cultural mediators for visitors. This immersion is a rare chance for them to meet and converse with people who are as passionate about craft as they are, as well as an opportunity to connect with designers, craftspeople and other students from across the globe. During their time in Venice, these Young Ambassadors also take part in study modules.

As for the Fellowship programme, it recruits 25 students or recent graduates annually and pairs each of these emerging talents with a master craftsperson. Over the course of this seven-month professional integration programme, participants first complete a one-month entrepreneurial and creative residency, certified by ESSEC Business School, then spend six months alongside a master artisan, in their workshop or studio. The placement is fully sponsored for the fellows; the artisans also receive a financial contribution.

The objective is for participants to acquire business and marketing skills, as well as learn manual techniques and develop an eye for design through daily contact with “their” master craftsman or craftswoman. A means of fostering skills transmission between generations, the Fellowship programme also safeguards and revives artisanal practices, knowledge and professions which can be at risk of disappearing entirely. And as past experience has shown, over the course of this exchange between generations, the master often learns as much as the pupil.

A “counter-revolution” has begun

In a call for a “new Renaissance”, Franco Cologni, the initiator and co-founder of the Michelangelo Foundation, and Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, at the head of the Homo Faber Biennial, warn that “in today’s fast-paced, mechanised, hyper-technological world, we are witnessing a shift in culture away from objects which are tangible, lasting, with intrinsic value, to the intangible, the ephemeral and the disposable.”

A refocusing of attention on the living legacy that is craftsmanship is, they believe, more essential than ever. Craftsmanship is “a pool of knowledge that we risk losing for ever” but, they insist, “a quiet yet determined revolution has begun. The pendulum is starting to swing the other way. We are looking more attentively at things which connect us to our human condition. We are rediscovering the value of duration, of that which only the human hand can create.”

This grand ambition has been that of Franco Cologni for decades already. The Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftmanship, the non-profit organisation which he founded in 2016 alongside Johann Rupert, owner of the Richemont group, is just one of this visionary’s many accomplishments in his almost obsessive determination to safeguard crafts and human expertise. Whether through his own foundation, the Fondazione Cologni Mestieri d’Arte, which he established in 1995, or Fondazione delle Arti e dei Mestieri, the publisher of a vast library of books on every imaginable craft, his work in support of craftsmanship is ongoing. Franco Cologni was instrumental in establishing the Creative Academy in Milan. His advocacy – cultural activism may be a better description – also led him to set up the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) in 2005.

Europa Star will feature a profile of Franco Cologni, together with a long interview, in issue 4/25, out in October 2025. With a similar intention to foster and preserve craftsmanship, Europa Star is launching HANDS, a new magazine that will launch at the next Homo Faber Biennial in Venice, on September 1st, 2026. This collector’s edition will consider every aspect of the human hand, its achievements and what the future may hold. Until then, Europa Star will be offering readers a taste of this new publication in its pages.