Charles Roulin’s passion for knives started quite by chance. His father wanted him to become a painter and decorator, and in those days (he was born in 1938) it was difficult to say no to one’s father, so that’s what he became. Many years later, at the age of 48, he discovered the art of handmade knives when visiting one of the biggest collectors in the world. It was “love at first sight”, and he soon began to make his own knives and exhibit them at shows. He now dedicates himself to making knives entirely by hand, pouring passion into his work. “I devote so much of myself to my work that whoever owns one of my pieces also owns a little part of my soul,” he says.

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With a mammoth ivory handle dating back somewhere between 25 to 30 thousand years, this is certainly a rather old piece. The stainless steel blade and handle have been carved with a scene of a group of Mammoths assaulted by a pack of wolf.

The knife with the Mammoths

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The steel of the handle has been minutely sculpted out with lizards and ants. This knife is emblematic of Charles's passion for nature and the reproduction of scenes of nature throughout his works. The blade of the knife is made of Damascus steel.

The knife with the Lizard

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This stainless steel folding knife was meticulously hand carved with scenes of the African savanna. The knife depicts the meeting between a rhinoceros and an elephant. The sculpted blade also fits into the scene once closed.

Scene from the savanna

Scene of the Savana

The design of this hand carved stainless steel knife was created as a tribute to Jacques Brel and Paul Gauguin. It is a complex piece. The sides are shutters that open on different scenes specific to those that inspired the design, Gauguin's paintings, and imagery taken from Brel's songs. Here, Paul Gauguin's portrait has been carved next to a yellow gold plated figure of Christ. Women from Brittany watch the flight of Archangel Gabriel.

Tribute to Jacques Brel and Paul Gauguin

Tribute

From Locarno, Switzerland, where he was born in 1965 to an Austrian mother and an Italian father, to Japan, via France and China, Claudio Colucci’s aesthetic has been influenced by myriad cultures. He founded his famous studio in Geneva in 2000 and it’s now represented in Tokyo and Beijing. Together with his son Fabio, he combines multiple means of expression, segueing easily from the creation of cutlery design for Christofle to the interior design of a Parisian hotel, from a collaboration with Ligne Roset to the scenography of a luxury boutique. "All my objects and projects always tell a story, and this is the secret of my success," he acknowledges. In 2000, he was named creator of the year at the Paris furniture fair.

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Dimitri Turcott spends his days in his workshop surrounded by sharp blades. However, in the first decades of his working life he was a professional guitarist who never layed his hands on dangerous tools. Now, the fearless bladesmith has dedicated himself to making knives fit for the 21st century. Embracing cutting edge of technology, Dimitri uses techniques like 3D design to make a perfect ergonomic grip and cryo-treatment of steel to make the blade harder. His focus is on a scientific modern approach to knifemaking, although he recognises the history of the ancient simple object. He explains: “It is one of the oldest tools of mankind. I sometimes think knives are a bit engraved in our DNA."

Turcott, Dimitri

From guitarist to knifemaker

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Andrea Stahl is a self-taught metal welder who learned her art here and there with various craftspeople. She masters many different materials, but it is clear that metal is her favourite and is the one that suits her nature the best. After a simple welding course, she started working independently, making her own furniture and soon enough for other people as well. Self-taught artists are important to Andrea who wishes to see more and more thriving in times to come. Attached to both crafts and art, she is an artist creating sculptures as well as a craftswoman making practical objects that she designs. She is an expert at plasma cutting, estimating her total cutting work at 'many thousands of kilometres' that sometimes follow her into her dreams.

Stahl, Andrea

Metal welding as a woman

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Marta Blanc was born in the industrial town of Sokolov under the communist regime of Czechoslovakia. As a child, she used to play near coal mines and chemical factories, where the smells and colours of rusted metals and chemicals made a great impression on her. Her dilemma between art and technique was resolved. She studied chemistry instead of art, with the ambition to be useful to the protection of the environment and implement techniques to improve air quality. She started a PhD but did not complete it due to the 1989 revolution. She then work as a self-taught graphic designer for 10 years in Prague and after moving to Switzerland and having to endure the uprooting, she felt the necessity to express herself via art, especially painting. Metal crocheting came naturally later, as it was part of her roots and childhood.

Blanc, Marta

Enamoured with metal

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Born in Samedan, the heart of the alpine Engadin region of Switzerland, Roger Rominger is a true native. His fascination in knives was present from his childhood, but it was compounded one day when he spotted a stone with a damask pattern lying under his favourite mountain, the Piz Tremoggia. It was in this moment that he decided to become a knife maker. His formal training involved working as a blacksmith and farrier, he expanded the knowledge he acquired there with the help of books, films and by doing. Since 2009, he has been making Damascus knives in his rustic workshop on the family farm where horns decorate the stone walls and an anvil is the centre piece. He and his wife now run "Chesa Rominger" together. What many might find surprising about his knives is “how elaborate it is to make a knife and how much metallurgy goes into it.”

Rominger, Roger

Forging blades

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Developed in partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and made possible by the support of Cartier, Homo Faber in Città gives you a rare chance to visit over 70 artisan workshops. The project is developed in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Confartigianato Imprese Venezia, CNA Venezia, Consorzio Promovetro Murano, The Venice Glass Week and Venezia da Vivere.

Our Partners

Step inside the workshops and ateliers to learn the secrets of local master artisans and manufacturers

Try your hand at different crafts with an authentic experience

Marvel at examples of fine craftsmanship by doing our itineraries

This september, the second edition of Homo Faber in Città invites visitors to step off the beaten track and discover the artisanal addresses where Venetian craftspeople create objects of exquisite beauty. A rare opportunity to witness Venice’s master artisans and young talents demonstrating their crafts and presenting the tools, materials and skills involved in contemporary Venetian craftsmanship.

Enrich your experience beyond Homo Faber 2024: The Journey of Life

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Homo Faber Guide is an online portal dedicated to contemporary craftsmanship, showcasing artisans, ateliers, museums, galleries, shops and experiences. Create your user account for access to exclusive features on Homo Faber Guide: save your preferred pages, hear about hot topics first, leave recommendations for your favourite artisans and much more.

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Although the Michelangelo Foundation researches the talents for its projects autonomously, collaboration with our ambassadors is fundamental. Over 120 associations, schools and institutions allow us to map the continents for craftsmanship and to have partners in each country who share our vision and goals. In addition, we have asked well-known personalities in the craft, design and art world to be our ambassadors in the cities where they live, so that their recommendations can offer a unique insight into craftsmanship in the major cities of Europe and beyond.

Who are our ambassadors?

Download our free Homo Faber Guide app (iOS and Android) to discover artisans, museums, galleries, shops, and experiences by location. Search Homo Faber on the App store on your mobile device.

Find craftsmanship destinations on the go

Discover the addresses of esteemed manufacturers, well known for producing high quality objects across a wide variety of crafts. Read their stories and find out where you can shop their contemporary pieces, see their archive collections and even in some cases visit their workshops. Find exceptional ateliers where artisans collaborate creatively to create fine pieces of craftsmanship. Reach out to them to commission something special.

Ateliers & Manufacturers

All the artisans and small workshops featured in Homo Faber Guide have been carefully researched and selected. They are presented and narrated through a selection of images and an interview, which allows readers to immerse themselves in the universe of these makers who exemplify excellence in their individual fields or are promising talents of the future. Find masters and rising stars who share the same passion and determination, and whose workshops are ready to share their secrets with visitors.

A selection of the best artisans

Are you eager to discover a city through craftsmanship? Do you wish to spend a few hours visiting an applied arts museum or attending a course on a craft with one of the masters featured in Homo Faber Guide? Browse the section dedicated to experiences and find your next adventure.

Experiences

An expert artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years. He or she may also be engaged in passing on their knowledge to the next generations, but they have been doing so for less than seven years. Beyond this, they will become a Master artisan.

Who is an Expert artisan?

Homo Faber Guide provides you with a selection of the best addresses across Europe and further afield, where you will be able to discover and purchase exceptional objects, some of which are created by artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide.

Galleries

Homo Faber Guide is an online platform dedicated to craftsmanship that allows you to discover artisans and their masterpieces; explore museums, visit galleries and shops selling unique objects; enjoy experiences in cities across Europe and beyond.

Homo Faber Guide is a signature project developed by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, an international non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, which was set up in 2016 thanks to the intuition of Franco Cologni and Johann Rupert. The Michelangelo Foundation’s mission is to celebrate and preserve master craftsmanship, and for this reason it has created a map of the most significant representatives in this field, with the aim of connecting all its protagonists: artisans, designers, gallery owners, art curators, collectors and enthusiasts of high-quality handmade pieces.

About the Guide

Are you an artisan, atelier or manufacturer? Would you like to be featured in Homo Faber Guide? The Michelangelo Foundation encourages self-assessment initiatives and is pleased to evaluate new members to appear on the Guide or in other projects. Thanks to the Master’s Touch Evaluation Tool, every artisan can send their application: register and access a questionnaire to see if you fulfill the 11 criteria for excellence that stand behind all the activities of the Michelangelo Foundation. If your answers reach the minimum requirement, your application will be brought to our attention; if, on the contrary, you should score below the minimum requirement, we will give you some points for improvement, in the hope that you may participate in future initiatives of the Michelangelo Foundation.

Join the Homo Faber Guide!

Our artisan labels

A master artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years, and who has also been engaged in passing on his or her expertise to the younger generations for more than seven years. This is in keeping with one of the key values of the Michelangelo Foundation: the transmission of knowledge in craftsmanship.

Who is a Master artisan?

Find museums handpicked for their links to contemporary craftsmanship and the exquisite collections they have on display. In each city, discover a museum of interest and organise your visit. From Italian museums displaying coral collections, glass pieces and ceramics to decorative art museums in Russia and Greece, marvel at the variety of museums exhibiting masterpieces, showcasing techniques and recounting histories.

Museums

A rising star is an artisan who has been active for less than ten years, and who is capable of expressing his or her craft with competence, creativity and originality. Whether self-taught or trained, the rising star represents the future of craftsmanship, in creativity, concerns and approaches.

Who is a Rising star?

The artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide have been selected through a meticulous assessment process based on the 11 criteria for excellence, identified by Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, in the volume The Master’s Touch, written with researchers Giuditta Comerci and Giovanna Marchello. The members of the Michelangelo Foundation’s network who have been invited to participate in sourcing artisans for the Guide use an evaluation tool based on these criteria. In this way, they can identify the most suitable artisans to include in the project.

Simple rules for a transparent selection

In which city does the artisan work?

In which country does the artisan practise?

What craft does the artisan practise?

What is the artisan’s Instagram page?

What is the name of the artisan you are recommending?

Does the artisan have a website?

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