The Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship 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, 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.

From the engaging education programme Homo Faber Fellowshp to its signature digital project Homo Faber Guide and international exhibition Homo Faber Biennial, the Foundation is a cultural movement centred on master artisans and rising stars. The present application focuses on Homo Faber Biennial.

Homo Faber Biennial returns to Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, Italy for the fourth time after the 2018, 2022 and 2024 editions of the international exhibition.

For its 2026 edition, the Michelangelo Foundation invited Es Devlin as Art Director while the Foundation will oversee the curation of the exhibition.

Devlin, whose monumental installations and kinetic performance sculptures have graced museums, galleries, theatres, opera houses and Olympic stadiums worldwide, and whose Library of Light installation drew nearly 200,000 visitors to the Pinacoteca di Brera at Salone del Mobile in Milan this spring, follows previous artistic directors and curators of Homo Faber Biennial including film director Luca Guadagnino, architect Stefano Boeri, designer India Mahdavi, curator Judith Clark and artist Robert Wilson, among many others.

Devlin and her studio team will create 15 immersive installations, using light to frame the work of hundreds of artisans from around the world, including ceramicists, glassblowers, stone carvers, woodturners, paper artists, weavers, metalworkers, embroiderers, model makers, mosaicists and many more.

Artisans will take centre stage throughout the exhibition spaces, becoming the main protagonists in the visitors’ experience. Photography, video, poetry and music will illuminate their faces, nationalities and cultures; a recreation of an artisan’s studio will reveal their tools, raw materials and working practices; while many artisans will be present to work live in three of the main rooms.

Present throughout the exhibition spaces will be 90 Young Ambassadors, talented students of design and craft from around the world who have been selected by Homo Faber to make the exhibition come alive for visitors.

Homo Faber 2026 will also include participatory workshops, as well as bespoke gastronomic experiences, allowing visitors to immerse themselves even further in craftsmanship and curate their day according to their interests.

In addition to the exhibition, Homo Faber 2026 will include the return of Homo Faber in Città. As part of this city-wide programme, Casa Sanlorenzo – the cultural headquarters of Sanlorenzo Arts, overlooking the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute – will serve as a key partner venue. Opened in 2025 and conceived as a permanent platform for dialogue between art, design and sustainability, Casa Sanlorenzo will host two exhibitions during Homo Faber 2026: one dedicated to master artisans from Venice and the Veneto, curated by Artemest, and another presenting craftspeople from Luxembourg, curated by De Mains De Maîtres Luxembourg. Meanwhile, the Venetian artisanal workshops present on Homo Faber Guide will throw open their doors to the public throughout the month of September, with suggested itineraries available online to help visitors plan their time. Lastly, on the occasion of Homo Faber 2026, a programme of craft events and exhibitions related to Venice and its rich craft heritage will be staged in beautiful locations and promoted on homofaber.com to help visitors enhance their stay in the lagoon city.

Today, the Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Fondazione Cologni Mestieri d’Arte are institutional partners of the 2026 edition of Homo Faber.

As in 2018, 2022 and 2024, for Homo Faber 2026, we aim to receive the high patronage of the General Consulate of Switzerland in Milano, the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Veneto Region and the City of Venice.

Websites: https://www.michelangelofoundation.org/en https://www.homofaber.com/

Tocati - Festival lnternazionale dei Giochi in Strada - Festival International des Jeux dans la Rue - est un événement culturel initié et organisé depuis 22 ans par l’Associazione Giochi Antichi AGA (Ancient Games Association), membre de l’Association Européenne Jeux et Sports Traditionnels (AEJeST) - ONG accréditée par la Convention pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel immatériel de l’UNESCO, en coopération avec la Municipalité de Vérone, la Région de la Vénétie, l’lnstitut Central pour le Patrimoine Immatériel (ICPI) du Ministère ltalien de la Culture.

AGA a initié ce festival basé sur les communautés « mettant dans la rue » les pratiques et traditions des jeux, leurs savoirs et émotions, souvenirs et passions, pour partager et valoriser la dynamique de la vie sociale des espaces urbains dans une double perspective : un engagement pour la reconnaissance du patrimoine culturel immatériel et une attention croissante au developpement durable.

Tocatì - Festival international des jeux dans la rue - est un évènement culturel initié et promu par l’Associazione Giochi Antichi AGA et l’Association Européenne des Jeux et Sports Traditionnels (AEJeST), en coopération avec la Municipalité de Vérone et la Région de la Vénétie. Ce festival communautaire « met dans la rue » les pratiques et les traditions liées aux jeux avec leurs savoirs, émotions, souvenirs et passions, pour partager et valoriser la dynamique de la vie sociale des espaces urbains dans une double perspective : engagement pour la reconnaissance du patrimoine culturel immatériel et attention croissante au développement durable.

The aim of this meeting is promoting the element ‘Falconry, a living human heritage’ inscribed on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Conference will take place on Saturday 13th October 2018 and it will be hosted inside Melfi’s Castle, which is linked to the material aspects of the falconry culture. The main aim of this Conference is to contribute to giving to the falconer community a sense of identity and continuity, providing a link from the past, through the present, and into the future of this millennial art.

Tocatì - Festival Internazionale dei Giochi in strada - International Festival of Street Games - is a cultural event initiated and promoted by the Associazione Giochi Antichi AGA (Ancient Games Association) and the Association Européenne Jeux et Sports Traditionnels (AEJeST), in cooperation with the Municipality of Verona. AGA has started this community-based festival putting in the streets the practices and traditions of games to share and enhance the dynamics of the social life of urban spaces in a double perspective: a commitment on the recognition of Intangible Cultural Heritage and a growing attention to sustainable development. Verona, its monuments and its historical centre, Unesco World Heritage site, becomes then a place for people meeting other cultural communities in a free spirit and sharing of cultural diversity expressions and values. At the same time the revitalisation of these social practices renews the link between the city and its surroundings, giving an impulse to the local economy in a sustainable way.
The Festival reflects and includes all the domains of Intangible Cultural Heritage, as defined in Article II. It is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the relationship to other international instruments, as the World Heritage Convention.

L’initiative d’Octobre 2015 à Monza qui a lieu en parallèle de l’Expo Milan 2015 est dédiée au patrimoine culturel immatériel, et cherche à établir un lien entre le patrimoine culturel et le patrimoine paysager. Dans ce contexte, le patrimoine représente la transition entre un passé de conservation et de valorisation à un processus d’innovation, donnant de la vigueur au sens de l’Histoire et de la transmission, mais tout en faisant attention de se situer dans l’avenir.
La Région Lombardie sous l’aval de la tutelle scientifique de la Fondation Feltrinelli a déjà contribué à l’élaboration de la Charte de Milan pour l’Expo 2015.